Another Side of Twilight
by Skyla123
Summary: Bella Swan has served in both WWI and WWII as an Army Nurse, after nearly 110 years alone surrounded by her family she moves to the sleepy town of Forks where she finally meets the Cullens and in particular Edward Cullen...
1. Chapter 1

This is a story I've wanted to write for a long time since I finished reading Twilight with an alternate version of Bella, I've borrowed a few characters from two of my favourite games as characters and changed the timeline a little at the beginning but everything else will be true to the work of Stephanie Mayer and the characters we love. Please read and review this work so that I know what you all think about it.

Skyla123

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners except those that belong to me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New York –December 13th 1918

The boat finally came in to the harbour at three in the afternoon, the unloading was slow but eventually Isabella Swan, Bella to her friends and family, disembarked the boat in a battle worn nurse's uniform. The men she helped into the ambulances were all victims of the war that had spread like wildfire through Europe only four short years earlier and Bella was worn out from both the physical and mental strain she had been put through in France. Her thoughts were of home and of her family waiting for her; but her duty wasn't over yet she still needed to report to the Red Cross for orders. She paused for a moment and looked around at the endless sight of men on crunches, stretchers and others being lead by women clad like herself. The war had been over for a month and two days and there was now the massive operation of finding the dead and helping the wounded adjust to life again underway.

Bella turned away from the sight, once she would have been moved to tears at such a sight but now she had run out of tears and felt empty instead, she walked briskly away and caught a transport to the Red Cross HQ. After an hour of waiting she was finally sent up the stairs to the office of the Head Matron on the 6th floor, she knocked and waited, eventually the Matron replied "Come In" and Bella entered the office.

The Matron was a woman in her late 50's but still possessed the energy of a girl Bella's age, when she saw Bella she nodded to the chair in front of her and finished signing the papers on her desk. She placed her pen back in the holder and turned her attention back to Bella, "Well I suppose I should say Congratulations for surviving the war Nurse Swan, but as you know I don't listen to those idiots in charge, but I suppose in your case this is a bit of an understatement" then she smiled, this surprised Bella and she had to voice her confusion "I don't understand…" the Matron only smiled wider and pushed a letter towards her "I think this will enlighten you, this arrived on my desk only an hour ago Nurse Swan and I think you should read it for yourself"

Bella quickly skimmed over the letter till a particular sentence caught her eye:

"…an we feel that even though she is not a native of our country Nurse Isabella Marie Swan put the nationalities of the soldiers aside and helped heal men from all backgrounds regardless of her own personal safety and we would like on behalf of the British men she helped save commentate her for the Red Cross War Service Medal as well as the Purple Heart Medal that we have received word she will be receiving from your government…"

The matron smiled at the look on Bella's face as she read that particular line, then a knock on the door wiped the smile off her face and she took the letter out of Bella's hands "Come In" a man came in and closed the door "Sorry to have to disturb you Matron but there is a Government official at the docks asking for you" The matron sighed and pushed herself up and moved for her cloak on the door hook "You can go home for now Nurse Swan, we will contact you with further details or if we need you to come on duty" she ushered Bella out of the room and bid her good day.

Bella was still slightly in shock at the contents of the letter and was eager to get home to her family before the news did or her family would never let her hear the end of it. She left the building and hurried to Grand Central Station and caught a train to the Bronx and she made her way home to her house near the church.

The moment Bella arrived at the end of the street she knew that the news had already reached home because apart from the snow the whole house was covered in banners and music was floating down the street, if she needed any further confirmation was the shout she heard from her older sister Rikku "Hey you guys! Bella's home!" as if by magic her whole family plus most of the street turned out of the houses and flocked towards her, Bella had barely enough time to set her bag down before Rikku crashed into her and nearly crushed her with the power of her hug and the rest of the street crowded round and voiced their congratulations. "Rikku… I'd like to breathe…please let…go!" Rikku finally loosened her grip with an "Oops! Sorry!" and the street laughed and walked with the two girls to the rest of their family, Paine was stood in her usual black dress attire and wore her usual scowl and Yuna was stood with her usual smile with Tifa and Aerith on the porch of the house. Paine moved first to take Bella up in a quick hug before taking her bag inside, Yuna, Tifa and Aerith moved in and gave her a hug and a chorus of "Welcome home sis!" before breaking apart and heading towards the house.

The house had been originally the vicarage to the church but a new one had been built further down the road so for a while the house stood empty till the family bought it and restored it to its former glory, it was a three story house with an attic and a basement of a soft brown brick and with its huge windows looked more like a manor house then a vicarage.

The party as it turned out was going to be held in the street and everyone in the street was brining out tables, food, drink chairs and even a grand piano was rolled onto the porch of one of the houses, Bella finally got inside her home and breathed a sigh of relief and began to climb the stairs towards her attic bedroom, "Bella?" a soft voice carried up the stairs, Bella turned and saw Lulu, the closest thing she had to a mother stood at the bottom of the stairs looking at her with her ruby eyes full of silent relief at the sight of her youngest daughter alive and well.

Bella rushed down the stairs and hugged her tightly as Lulu held her gently as she quietly sobbed into Lulu's dress, eventually she stopped and looked apologetically at Lulu who merely helped her up the stairs into a waiting bath and a clean dress of blue that had been a favourite before the war, "Lulu do I have to go?" and her statement earned a smile from Lulu "Bella, everyone has been waiting for you to congratulate you for winning those medals and for coming home safely, just come for a little while for your sisters's sakes they've missed you and I have as well" Bella groaned in defeat and after she was presentable Lulu took her by the arm and lead her down the stairs to the party outside.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well Folks this is Chapter 1, please read and review and I'll see you next time!

Skyla123


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to all who reviewed Chapter One! This has been a little bit difficult to type since I've got a huge pile of work to do as well as my part-time job. For those of you who were asking about wether Bella and her family are Vampires... sorry they aren't Vampires, they're Witches!!

I promise to explain more about how this all came about as the story goes on.

I hope you all enjoy chapter two and please read and review!

Skyla123

xxx

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners except those that belong to me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that night the party finally dispersed and all the drunken people were escorted home by the more sober members of the gathering. Bella sat down in an armchair and breathed a silent sigh of relief "Hey Bells! What's the long face for?" Rikku bounded into the room and jumped onto the sofa opposite. As much as she loved her sister Bella just wanted to be alone with her memories, she shrugged her shoulders and tried to leave the room but found Paine in the doorway along with Tifa blocking the way to the stairs.

"Bella, we need to talk honey" Bella groaned and turned to face Aerith who was now in her armchair by the fire "Can't this wait till tomorrow?" Aerith shook her head and moved to her side, she helped guide her to the sofa and sat alongside her and Rikku. Lulu came into the room along with Yuna who placed a mug of tea in Bella's hands and giving her a smile before moving to the other armchair and sat down.

Lulu looked into the fire for a while and the girls waited for her to begin the discussion, "Girls, we would have had this conversation a while ago if Bella wasn't in France…" she paused here to smile at Bella who looked down at her mug "Now that she's home safely we can discuss this letter I received a while ago from Serafina" Lulu pulled a letter from her pocket and began to read it:

"My Dearest Lulu and Family,

I hope you are all whole and well as this letter finds you, please send my regards to Bella if she is still in France and that we are praying for her safety daily.

Lulu, as you know Vampires have finally reached the new world and now threaten the people and our coven with their 'diet' and whispers of victims among our own has reached the council's ears at last.

The reason we contact you is that Vampires are heading towards New York and given your past experience with their kind in England I felt it only fair to warn you of their prescience nearby and that you may want to take steps to protect yourselves.

May The Mother Protect You All

Serafina"

The room was deathly silent and they all pondered over Serafina's words, eventually Tifa found her voice "Do the boys know?" Lulu shook her head and turned back to the fire "Lulu they have to know! If Gippal or Zack find out we kept this from them…" Lulu turned to face them "As soon as they get home we'll tell them" then she smiled "But for now we have other matters to discuss, like what we are going to wear for Bella's ceremony" the mood in the room lifted instantly and they all started planning a huge shopping trip the next day, Bella silently slipped away and went to her room.

Her room had always been her sanctuary when her family was acting like this, the room was more like a library then a bedroom but this was a reflection of Bella's love of books. The only gaps in the bookshelves were the small patch of wall where her bed was, the door and the windows. Bella went to her bed and collapsed onto it she breathed in the fresh clean smell of the sheets, the flowery scent revealed Aerith had washed her sheets recently.

This small act of kindness brought the tears she had tried to hold back spilling from her eyes and she began to weep violently on the bed as the full horror of the war finally caught up with her, she kept on crying till exhaustion finally claimed her to a dreamless sleep.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An explosion jerked Bella away from her dreamless sleep for a moment she thought she was back in France and that the batteries were opening fire again. As her mind caught up with her she realised this room was a lot bigger then the one she had shared with the other nurses, then she remembered she was at home in her own room and in her own bed.

She noticed as an afterthought that someone had come in the night and put her to bed properly including changing her into a nightgown, this nearly sent her over the edge again but before she could begin to cry another explosion shook the house. Bella grabbed her nightgown and ran down the stairs and headed towards the basement, as she headed down the stairs she could hear Paine scolding someone as Aerith was murmuring something "You stupid shit! You nearly brought the house down! Can't you control yourself for ten minutes?!" Bella finally reached the door and opened it slowly as not to attract attention, Paine's back was towards her and she noted that she must have been awoken as well as she was dressed the same as her, Aerith had always been an early riser so she was already dressed and Bella finally noticed that she was healing someone lying on the floor and this was the victim of Paine's wrath.

"C'mon Dr P! Don't be like that! Ow1 Hey easy with the prodding Aerith that hurt!" Bella smiled, there was only one person who called Paine 'Dr P" and as Paine shifted she saw Gippal lying on the floor looking slightly singed around the edges. Gippal groaned and sat up "Thanks Aerith I'll be fine now" Aerith slowly stood up "Are you sure?" as a response Gippal jumped to his feet and began adjusting his eye patch "Yeah I'm ok now so don't worry about it"

Aerith smiled and was about to say something till she noticed Bella in the doorway "Oh, did we wake you Bella?" before Bella could reply she was swept up in a huge hug by Gippal "Hey there kiddo! Welcome home! Any good stories about the war to tell?" this simple sentence was enough for Bella to start crying again at this point Paine who had already lost her temper hit Gippal over the head, hard.

"Ignore him Bella he's just too stupid this morning to understand what he just said" Paine gave him a death glare before ascending the stairs to the kitchen. Gippal looked at Bella and began to approach her before Paine's voice travelled down the stairs again "Gippal get your insensitive backside up here now!"

Murmuring a "sorry" Gippal gave her a quick squeeze on the shoulder before going up the stairs as well leaving Aerith to comfort her. After a while she stopped crying and wiped her eyes on the sleeve on her nightgown "I'm sorry Aerith, I can't seem to stop crying these days…" they both turned at the footsteps on the stairs and Rikku came into view looking as bubbly and energetic as always.

"Bella!" she jumped and gave Bella a rib crushing hug, "Don't you worry about Gippal I'll deal with him later, anyway you two come upstairs, the boys are home!!" Rikku grabbed both girls by the hands and dragged them up the stairs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phew! This is Chapter two all done!

Wow this took a hell of a long time to write; well I'm just glad it's finished at last! See you in Chapter three!

Skyla123

xxx


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks soo much to everyone who reviewed last time! I understand from a few of you I've left out a few details in relation to the background of the characters, Gomen.

I hope this chapter might clear up a few things for you, I will reveal more in the next few chapters so don't worry just review or e-mail me your questions and I'll try to answer them all ASAP!

Oh and by the way… Edward finally makes an appearance!

Skyla123

xxx

P.S - Apart from the flashback all _italics_ are people's thoughts.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners except those that belong to me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rikku dragged the girls into the kitchen and as Bella's eyes readjusted to the light she noticed that the kitchen was full of people who all turned towards them as they emerged from the doorway. "Bella!" before she could even brace herself, her brothers had surrounded her in a huge group hug and thanks to one of Bella's powers she could hear them loudly voicing their pleasure at her return in their heads.

"Hey guys! Give the girl some air will ya!" Rikku managed to elbow her way to the centre of the huddle much to the annoyance of the boys and dragged Bella out. "Did you have to yell? I know you're happy to see me without the mental shouting match" Bella rubbed her aching head and sat down at the kitchen table.

The boys were all looking a little sheepish and sat down at the table again, "Sorry little sis, but when you go away for ages that's the welcome home you get!" Bella looked up and saw Zack grinning at her from the other end of the table and the others all start laughing in agreement.

Bella sighed, "Has Lulu talked to you guys yet?" she then spots Cloud entering the room "What about?" Bella almost missed the reply with all the noise the others were making so she raises her voice "About the Vampires" the laughter died instantly the all turned to stare at Bella.

Tidus stood up "What Vampires?" Bella looked up at him and registered the astonishment in all their thoughts "I thought she told you, Vampires are in New York… Hey! Where are you going?" the boys were all leaving the room, Gippal turned to her "_Just to kill some murderous blood sucking bastards"_Bella broke into a cold sweat and visions of the past came flooding back as Gippal left the room…

_Flashback_

_Bursting into the room the walls were covered in burns and…blood, a lot of it. Bella made her way over to the darkened corner were she could hear the thoughts of someone or something singing in euphoria from behind the door to Lenne's room. The others followed slowly weapons ready; Bella was straining to listen to the thoughts of Lenne to find out who was in there with her but she couldn't hear her, Shuyin was getting impatient and it was the combined strength of Barali and Gippal keeping him from bursting into the room._

"_Bella, is she ok? Bella answer me!" she waved her hand at him and concentrated hard, a flash of light illuminated the room and with a jolt Bella managed to get into the mind of the other person in the room. "NOOO!!!!" the creature voiced its surprise and fury at being disturbed and crashed through the door, the red irises travelled over the room before settling on Shuyin who was struggling with all his might to break free. _

_The vampire pounced towards the window but before he got there he met a furious looking Paine who slashed at him with her sword. Meanwhile Bella rushed into Lenne's bedroom with Aerith and Tifa leaving the others to corner the vampire; Lenne was lying on her bed and at first glance looked like she was asleep but Bella knew better, Aerith tried to bring her back with her healing magic but she moved away and turned to Tifa who then rushed into the next room with a look of murder in her eyes…_

_End Flashback_

Shuyin tried to kill the vampire but its mate interfered and killed him and the vampires got away but not before Bella got more information out of their minds and the family swore that the vampire 'James' and his mate 'Victoria' were going to pay for the deaths of their brother and sister.

Flashes of that time still haunted Bella even though she went to France to try and escape but all she had done was add more memories to haunt her dreams.

She rushed after the boys to try and stop them and she found them all suspended from the ceiling with Paine sat beneath them reading a book. "Paine! Lets us go!" Zack was twisting and turning and the others were seething yelling at Paine to let them go. Lulu entered the room and quietly took in the situation, "Paine let them go and boys you will not leave this room till I come back with the others, understand?" the boys nodded and Paine lowered them to the floor.

Zack was pacing back and forth and was swearing in his head as her went, he wasn't the only one the others were all thinking of how to kill the vampires in the most painful ways possible. Bella slipped away from the room and went to her room and allowed the memories to wash over her as Lulu and her sisters reasoned with her brothers not to go and hunt the vampires down and in the end Lulu's will came through and the boys refrained from going vampire hunting, Bella exhausted from the mental barrage her gift made her hear from her family's minds drifted away into dreams filled with war and blood eyed vampires…

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

December 21st 1938 

In the years since Bella had returned from the Great War as the humans now called she had recovered somewhat from the horrors she had witnessed and threw all her energy into her nursing and her reading. She like the rest of her family hadn't changed at all since then, like the vampires her coven was both blessed and cursed to live forever thus the need for her family to move around a lot. Her mother before the consumption claimed her realised what her daughter was going to become since she was the daughter of a witch herself and sent her into Lulu's care and Bella finally became a true witch a month before her 18th birthday.

Most of her family had moved away to live on their own till they could all join up in another city so it was only Lulu, Cloud, Tifa and herself at home now; the streets were thick with snow that had continuously fallen for two weeks straight transformed New York into a winter wonderland to the casual observer but to Bella it was cold, wet and dangerous as it always was when it snowed, but despite this New York was the only place Bella had ever known and she was sad they were going to leave it come springtime, she had only been immortal for twenty years and this was to be a her first move and Yuna had said that it was natural for her to feel this way.

Bella knew it was a stupid idea to walk alone at this time of night in the Bronx but she hadn't had the heart to disturb Cloud from his nap earlier on to ask him to walk her home sine she knew he was exhausted from patrolling the streets for some new crazy vampire that had wandered onto their land. The vampires from before had come and gone and Bella was grateful that there had been no violence on either side to cause her family any harm but this new vampire made her uneasy with the thought her brothers might come back to hunt him down.

Bella heard footsteps behind her, _"This is gonna be good!"_ she cursed herself for being an idiot and moves across the street to try and get away from the man. His mind was getting more and more graphic as he perused her and Bella was getting more and more anxious as he got closer and closer to her, she tried ducking into an alley that lead to home but the guy caught up to her and threw her into some trash cans. Sitting in garbage wasn't the way Bella thought she was going to end her day and she started to get annoyed, she stood up against the wall and braced herself "Stay away from me" the man was surprised at her response he usually liked it if his victims begged him to stay away but the calmness in Bella's voice threw him off a little.

Bella could hear his mind getting all worked up as he brought h the knife out of his pocket and advanced on her, _"Ha! Not so brave now Bitch!"_, before she could even get her hand up to cast a spell Bella suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck go up and she could hear another person breathing…but no heartbeat! _"C'mon sugar, scream for Billy boy!"_ Bella tried to hear the other person's thoughts but all she could get was the impression that this person was pissed off at this "Billy Boy" for some reason, _"Scream, c'mon you silly whore!"_, and then Billy Boy lunged forward with the knife and the world went into slow motion for Bella, she saw the knife get closer and closer but she couldn't move her body for some unknown reason. The thoughts of the other person were closer now almost as if he was on top of her but she was all alone with the drunken idiot who smelled like he'd pickled himself in scotch.

The next thing she knew was that the knife was about to come dangerously close to her throat and that she was now stood behind someone, this person backhanded Billy Boy into the opposite wall of the alley and proceeded to try and beat him senseless, even though he was going to rape and kill her she couldn't stand by and let him be killed by her unearthly rescuer. Bella rushed over and grabbed the man's wrist to stop him from further harming the man on the ground, "Stop it! Can't you see he's unconscious?!"

She noticed that the man made no move to push her away and she got a good look at him, he was taller then she was and she guessed roughly the same age physically as she was with wild copper hair and she had to admit to herself he was handsome even thought he clothes he wore were worn and filthy and to coin the phrase from Rikku, out of fashion.

The paleness of his skin and the coldness of it along with his blood red irises identified him as a vampire but she wasn't afraid of him and that shocked her as much as the fact she couldn't get a proper focus on his mind to find out who he was. He was staring at her just as intently as she was at him, his eyes darted over her face and body and he stared into her eyes for so long that Bella could feel herself start to blush at the intensity of his gaze.

They were so busy studying one another that they both jumped at the sound of Billy Boy stirring, the nurse in Bella compelled her to look him over to make sure he wasn't hurt that badly. She had expected the vampire to run away after she had let go of his wrist but to her surprise he stayed and watched her examine Billy Boy. To Bella's dismay Billy Boy hadn't learned his lesson from earlier when he grabbed her breasts and squeezed hard, Bella let out a gasp of pain and suddenly the man wasn't in front of her and was instead up against the alley wall in a choke hold by her vampire rescuer.

Bella got up quickly from the ground and put herself between Billy Boy and the vampire, she looked him straight in the eyes and was slightly shocked at the pure look of fury he had in his eyes at the man he was focused on over her shoulder. Without thinking Bella put her hands on either side of the vampire's face, he flinched at the contact and tried to move away but Bella held firm holding his angel-like face in her hands, "Please… calm down" he finally looked her in the eyes and his fury began to die down "I'm alright, c'mon now put him down, he's drunk…" the vampire's eyes flashed with anger again and his hold on Billy Boy's throat tightened.

Finally he spoke, "He knows what he's doing, his kind are all the same… he would use you and leave you in the snow to die and monsters like him don't deserve to live" his voice was like velvet and under different circumstances Bella would have loved to talk with him just to hear his voice, but the harshness in it only made her more unnerved then she already was. "You must stop! That's enough! You're killing him!" the vampire jerked and let the man go, Billy Boy slid down the wall unconscious but alive. Bella stayed put between the man and the vampire but moved her hands from his face, his eyes flashed with some emotion Bella couldn't recognise and he moved away to the opposite wall.

"Why?" Bella bent down to examine the unconscious man "All life is precious, or so the bible says" she heard him snort "Doesn't that same book say rapists deserve to die?" she turned on her heels to face him "I never said the Bible was perfect, but you can't go round taking the most precious thing in the world away from people, especially drunken fools who drink their problems away" suddenly he came up opposite her on his heels and she didn't need to try and read his mind to hear his confusion at her statement she could see conflict in his eyes. "What is the most important thing?" she looked him straight in the eye "You know life is the most important thing" her response seamed to shock him "What? You think your life belongs to you?" she rose to her feet and helped him to his feet "My mother gave me my life, that's why I have to live so that I can give life to others like you…"

"She's here! Hey! Get away from my sister, bastard!" Bella pushed the vampire towards the other exit of the alley and turned to face an angry looking Cloud, "Go!" the vampire hesitated and Bella looked him in the eye and gave him a rare smile "Thanks" she turned and ran towards Cloud and grabbed him round the middle. "You okay?" he looked her over furiously and took in the bruise on her head from her collision with the trash cans, "Did that vampire do that?" Bella wasn't really listening, she was busy tracking the vampire's progress, when he was out of the range of her power she turned back to Cloud and shook her head. Bella could tell he didn't believe her, but he let the subject drop and took her towards a relieved Tifa and they both took her home to a worried Lulu who nearly suffocated her in a hug that rivalled even one of Rikku's.

Bella never did reveal the contents of that conversation with her vampire rescuer to her family but assured them that he was gone, and this saddened her a little and at night she wished she could talk to him again, she had sensed he had wanted to talk some more before Cloud discovered them and deep down she wished this as well.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think this might be my longest chapter yet, and I think my poor fingers agree with me!

Please note that December 21st 1938 is an event that takes place during Edward's "rebellious time" as he called it hence the red eyes.

I'm thinking of doing an Edward version of December 21st 1938, but I want to know what you guys think, depending on the amount of reviews I get I'll conceder writing it.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Please read and review!

Skyla123

xxx


	4. Chapter 4

Well…the vote was unanimous, so here we are in Edward's version of December 21st 1938, this took a while to do what with home, college and general laziness on my part, Gomen.

Once again the _italics_ are thoughts just in case you get confused.

Well I hope you all like it!

Skyla123

Xxx

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners except those that belong to me.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

December 21st 1938

Ever since Edward Cullen had left Carlisle and Esme he'd lived the life of a true vampire, he'd been away for ten years and during that time he'd lost count of how many monsters he'd drained dry before they could hurt the innocent, even though he'd fallen short of Carlisle's dream he still had a conscience.

The first time he attacked a human the man was in the midst of trying to murder his wife, it was so easy to let go and let his instincts take the man's life and as he drained the man dry he tried to ease the guilt by telling himself it was to save the woman's life. Just like the first time it was so easy to let his monster take the lives of the wicked that after ten years it really began to sicken him.

Edward often found himself wondering how his family were doing and he would get the urge to go see them but he never did because he couldn't face them looking the way he did because of the shame he felt for giving in so he continued.

Edward eventually made his way to New York and found himself busy protecting humans from other monsters in human form, at first Edward hunted at night but as Christmas drew near he ventured out for longer periods of time. Christmas, his mind wandered as he remembered the last Christmas he'd spent with his family, the house was decorated from top to bottom with a huge tree in the front room and Esme's excitement had been so much that Edward and Carlisle couldn't help but join in, he felt a pang of homesickness and longed to go home.

Edward was distracted by the thoughts of a man who was drunk out of his mind who had caught sight of a young nurse who was walking down the street. _"This is gonna be good!"_ Edward could see all the things the man was planning to do to the young woman and it turned his stomach, it appeared that she wasn't the first girl but was soon to be one of many.

Well God was going to play a cruel joke on the man by sending a Vampire to be this girl's 'protector', the girl suddenly crossed the road and Edward realised she knew the man was following her and was trying to escape into an alley. Edward watched from the opposite side of the street facing down the alleyway and from his rooftop perspective he saw the girl get thrown roughly into some trash cans, Edward growled softly and looked the girl over for injuries he was sure to pay this so called man back and he spotted the look on the girl's face as she got up and braced herself against the wall.

Edward was surprised a the girl's bravery and even more so when she spoke "Stay away from me" her voice was quiet and calm and this threw the man off, this wasn't going according to the plan in his mind and she surprised him with her bravery.

Edward saw the man's next move and decided to move to the rooftop above the girl's head, _"Ha! Not so brave now Bitch!" _Edward tried to get a drift of the girl's thoughts so that he could find out how the sight of the blade was affecting her but to his immense surprise he couldn't hear them at all but through the man's thoughts he could see his intent for her and he moved faster and he reached the rooftop and looked down to observe the scene below him, _"C'mon sugar, scream for Billy boy!" _

Edward could see in this man's mind him leaving the girl broken and used in the snow for the whole world to see and the thought of the look of brokenness on this girl's face for some unknown reason made Edward unusually angry and want to beat the guy to death instead of draining his blood. _"Scream, c'mon you silly whore!"_ Edwards temper wasn't helped by this 'Billy Boy' calling the girl a whore and when he lunged for the girl with the knife closing in on her throat, Edward saw red.

In a flash Edward had leapt between the girl and her attacker and he backhanded him to the wall opposite the girl and he was there instantly and began to beat the living daylights out of the man, Edwards temper was spiralling out of control and before he could use his fist to cave the man's skull in, a hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.

It was the girl, her hand tightened in his wrist and the anger Edward felt towards the man was temporarily forgotten "Stop it! Can't you see he's unconscious?!" Edward couldn't get his body to move, for some reason his brain refused to move his body and oddly he found that he didn't mind at all.

He noted that the girl was looking at him and that he was doing the same, her uniform was covered in dirt from the trash cans and wet from the snow and her hat had slipped revealing her brown hair and she had a bruise forming on her head. The most startling thing about the girl was the depth of her chocolate brown eyes, Edward knew he was staring but he couldn't help himself as far as he was concerned in that moment he could happily stay lost in her eyes forever.

The sound of Billy Boy stirring broke the moment and made both of them jump, the girl let go of his wrist and bent down to examine her to-be attacker and Edward watched in awe of her selflessness an tried in vain to hear the thoughts behind the action but he failed. Edward didn't need to be a mind reader to guess the man would abuse the girl's kindness, Billy boy grabbed the girl and squeezed her chest so hard she gasped in pain, Edward's anger exploded again and he grabbed the idiot and pinned him in a chokehold against the wall.

Edward was determined to squeeze the living daylights out of the man but the girl got in front of him and placed her hand on either side of Edward's face, he tried to get out of her grip but was powerless to do so like before and it was all he could do to keep strangling Billy Boy while she stood firm and looked him in the eye even though his gaze was on the drunken fool behind her as her warmth seeped into his skin.

She spoke in a soothing voice "Please… calm down" Edward finally looked her in the eye, he could see the fear in them and the thought of him scaring her for some reason chilled Edward to the core and he tried to reign in his anger "I'm alright, c'mon now put him down, he's drunk…" the man behind her was oblivious to her trying to save his miserable life and Edward couldn't believe she was saving this miserable excuse of humanity, if she knew what he was thinking of doing to her… Edward's anger flared up again and he tightened his grip.

Edward knew the girl had registered that his grip had tightened and he had to make the girl see what this 'Billy Boy' was like, "He knows what he's doing, his kind are all the same… he would use you and leave you in the snow to die and monsters like him don't deserve to live" Edward kept on squeezing the man's throat as she digested this, just before Billy Boy was about to stop breathing she tightened her grip on his face in her panic, "You must stop! That's enough! You're killing him!" Edward jerked at the fear and urgency in her voice and let Billy Boy slip down the wall into the snow.

Edward had expected the girl to move away from him but all she did was remove her hands from his face and Edward had to refrain himself from grabbing her hands and putting them back so he moved to the opposite side of the alley.

"Why?" he needed to find out why she was protecting the man who was going to let her die in the snow rather then face what he had done, he watched her bend down to examine him again and took some comfort that Billy boy couldn't touch her again due to being unconcious thanks to him.

After a while she answered his question "All life is precious, or so the Bible says" Edward couldn't help but snort at this reasoning "Doesn't that same book say rapists deserve to die?" she turned round on her heels to face him and he was shocked at the look in her chocolate eyes as she looked him in the eye, "I never said the Bible was perfect, but you can't go around taking the most precious thing in the world away from people, especially drunken fools who drink their problems away" Edward was shocked at her reply and was struck with the thought of how similar she was to Carlisle with her compassion for others regardless of what they have done.

Here she was, a human girl who acted both older and wiser then her years giving a vampire a lecture on how to behave. In different circumstances he would have loved to converse with the girl to find out more about her and her silent radical thoughts, but he was curious to know what she meant by "precious thing" and to ease his confusion and the conflict he was feeling at the path he had chosen to follow and he felt this girl had the answer.

He got up close on her level and tried to read her thoughtsto no avail but her eyes revealed her determination, "What is the most important thing?" her eyes flashed with annoyance "You know life is the most important thing" Edward froze with shock at her words "What? You think your life belongs to you?" she got to her feet and grabbed his hands to help him to his own and she kept holding them "My mother gave me my life, that's why I have to live so that I can give life to others like you…"

Edward simply couldn't believe it, this girl's words were burning themselves into his mind as well as her warmth filled his body, her words were so similar to Carlisle's own that he had to hear more of her calm sweet voice telling him the words that soothed his mind and body. Suddenly before Edward could ask her to go on the peace was shattered by a cry from the opposite end of the alley, "She's here! Hey! Get away from my sister, bastard!"

Edward's brain suddenly kicked back in and realised two people were quickly approaching, the girl let go of his hands and pushed Edward towards the exit of the alleyway, "Go!" Edward hesitated torn between obeying her and protecting her, she seamed to sense his hesitation and turned to face him, she gave him a breathtakingly beautiful smile, for a moment Edward thought he was in the presence of an angel "Thanks" and she turned and ran towards the man and grabbed him around the waist halting his approach towards Edward.

Edward turned and ran away from the alley, he kept on running, past the hole he had been living in, past the city limits and he kept on running day and night till he reached the outskirts of the town where he had left Esme and Carlisle ten years ago with that girl's words etching themselves into his already perfect memory and the lingering memory of her warmth on his skin from her gentle hands.

The girl, he never learned her name but she had greatly influenced his mind and helped him come to the realisation it was time to go home. He scanned the minds of the towns people and found the information he knew Carlisle would have left for him and he headed off for his new home and to see the reactions on both their faces and in their minds when he came through the front door.

Edward never told anyone apart from Carlisle and Esme about the encounter in the alleyway, Edward had returned briefly to New York to try and find the girl but at the hospital he tracked her down to thanks to her uniform, he found she had moved away to somewhere the other staff didn't know anything about, but he did learn her name, Nurse Swan.

This saddened Edward but he still remembered her words and carried them with him as they influenced him into becoming a better person, he often wished they had more time to talk since he had so many questions for her and the impression in her hauntingly beautiful eyes had left told him she had wanted to as well.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well there we have it folks!

Next chapter will go forward in time to the end of WWII after Bella comes back from the war.

I might include what Edward and the other Cullens are doing at this point in time but that again is up to you guys but I'm all for it!

Please review and see you all again next chapter!

Skyla123

xxx


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! ^_^

The next chapter will probably be when Bella moves to Forks and meets Edward face to face again after all those years, there might also be mention of the wolves in the next chapter I'm still debating about it, and your thoughts are welcome on this subject.

The _**italic bold**_ text is an actual quote from President Roosevelt on the events at Pearl Harbour and the _italics_ are people's thoughts.

Skyla123

xxx

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners except those that belong to me. T_T

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

December 24th 1945 – Washington DC

World War II had truly been a horrific war, for Bella who had stood on the battle scared fields of World War I it was like returning to a dream she had hoped was over but it wasn't. This time she had hoped it would all blow over quickly but she hadn't put into account the minds of the Japanese leaders wanting to stop the Americans interfering with the invasion of China's territories.

Pearl Harbour, President Roosevelt had summed up that day perfectly "_**a date which will live in infamy**_" she could remember the radio broadcasts of the events and realized that this single event would turn the minds of the American people and that they would now go to war before the declaration had even been finalized.

Bella knew she had to go sign up again, her brothers and sisters' response had been a unanimous _"Not a Chance!"_ when she told them, Paine had threatened to suspend her from the ceiling till the war was over but in the end Lulu had stopped the arguments and told them "Bella has proved her bravery time and time again, who are we to stop her? If she wants to go, I may not like it but I will support her decision as should the rest of you."

Baralai's thoughts were torn between Bella staying home and the thought of her going to war again and he came up with a solution "Well if Bella insists on going, then we might as well go with her to make sure she's safe, it's the only way I can see without us all not talking to each other for the next decade" the boys jumped on the idea but the girls were less enthusiastic and eventually they came up with their own solution " Well I guess that leaves us to go in the factories doesn't it? Aerith can go with Bella since she's a healer and they can look out for each other" Yuna's plan was meet with universal approval and that's how it went.

Bella and Aerith were kept constantly busy with the amount of wounded people coming back from the front in Europe while the boys were scattered all over the place fighting Nazis, Italians and Japanese. Tidus, Baralai and Gippal ended up fighting in the D-Day landings and were deemed to be blessed by God by their fellow troops for surviving the whole war to that point, if only they knew, and even though the letters betrayed nothing they all knew that they were laughing their heads off as they wrote them.

Zack and Cloud had ended up somehow being part of the guard for the medical convoy Bella and Aerith were part of, Bella had asked Zack who he'd used his emotion controlling powers on to get the position for them both but all he did physically was pat her head and walk away with Cloud and the other soldiers "_Well it wasn't easy I'll tell you that Bella, anyway the we practically told each other that if one of us got a chance at this post and they didn't get it they needn't come home!"_ Bella giggled and told Aerith who laughed along with her earning disapproving looks from the matron.

The war had ended for the boys in early 1945 when the war in Europe ended with Hitler's death and the Russian occupation of Germany. The concentration camps were nothing short of hell on earth, the boys were in charge of hunting the commandants who were escaping into the countryside but they never got far. The girls were left to tend to the poor souls within, simple acts of kindness provoked tears from the lost souls and Bella's heart went out to them, the records of the dead were the most disturbing as the numbers climbed higher and higher and the atrocities became known.

It was during this time that Bella's thoughts were often invaded by her vampire rescuer and she often wondered what he was doing and if he was still in New York, she had heard from an old friend in the hospital she used to work in that a man matching the description of her vampire had come looking for her in the fall of the next year but Bella had moved to DC by this point and she was sad she had missed him. At night when the other nurses and Aerith were asleep, she often replayed the events of that night in her head and his velvet voice would lull her to sleep.

After a month her brothers returned home while Bella and Aerith went to support the troops still fighting the Japanese. Aerith had gone on a boat heading to the mainland with wounded troops leaving Bella alone on a destroyer off the coast of Japan when the two Atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Bella would never forget the sight of the bombs going off nor the sound of the terrified Japanese people trapped in those towns, it was another experience she would never talk about with anyone about as a mark of respect to the innocents who were caught up in the war. Afterwards the two girls were sent to the concentration camps in Japan to tend to the wounded and malnourished people there as they had done to the victims of the Nazi concentration camps.

Eventually Bella and Aerith went home to an emotional reunion, Yuna, Rikku, Paine and Tifa jumped them the moment they put their foots over the threshold and held them as if they were never to let go. Zack and Aerith were just glad to be back together and they were talking in such a fast pace that humans wouldn't be able to understand a word of it but the others left the room to give them some privacy. Stories and news was spread round and Bella contributed little to the conversation and after being fussed over by Lulu went up to her room to prepare for the inevitable party Rikku would insist on throwing for their homecoming and the party had been a wild one with the family just happy to be together again after nearly six years apart.

It was now Christmas Eve and the house was decorated from top to bottom with decorations past and present everywhere you looked. The party wasn't going to start for another hour and Bella had sneaked to her room to watch the snow fall outside her window and her mind was lost in thought, a presence filled her mind and she knew who it was on the other side of the door before he even knocked, "You can come in Nooj! It's open!" Nooj opened the door with his good arm and closed it behind him; he limped to the window and stood beside Bella.

"Lulu told me you'd be here, trying to escape Rikku's enthusiasm?" Bella nodded, _"Well I can't blame you, even I find her energy annoying at times"_ Bella had always felt close to Nooj, if Lulu was the mother figure in her life Nooj would definitely be her father figure hands down. "Are you staying over Christmas? We haven't seen you for decades!" Nooj smiled _"I'm staying over Christmas and New Year, but I have to go abck to the Council after the New Year"_ Bella tried to hide her disappointment but Nooj saw it anyway "The council need me Bella, Aro is getting unreasonable with Lucianna's clan in Italy again and Serafina has to help her deal with him and his brothers."

"Nooj? Bella? Where are they?" Nooj turned towards the door and offered his arm to Bella while his metal arm gripped his cane, "I guess that's the summons to the party my dear, shall we?" Bella threaded her arm through Nooj's and joined him going down the stairs for another of Rikku wild Christmas parties and hoped that she wouldn't be nearly set on fire by a drunken Gippal again.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

December 24th 1945 – Lewistown – Montana

Another World War had come and gone and Edward Cullen hadn't taken part in it again and this time he found that he was not as disappointed as he was the first time round. Carlisle had been called to go to New York to aid with the returning wounded in the fall of 1941 and had been away till the end of the war leaving Esme, Rosalie, Emmett and Edward to "hold the fort" as he put it while he was gone.

Now that he was home for Christmas and the New Year Esme had perked up considerably and was dashing around like a whirlwind getting the house looking decent for Christmas and the others helped where they could but mostly left her alone to do her own thing. Edward had conformed well back to his "Vegetarian" diet after his return from New York and was in the midst of helping Rosalie Emmett the latest additions to the family adjust to their new way of life.

Rosalie was happy spending her first Christmas with Emmett as a married couple and Edward felt even more alone with a new happy couple in the house unintentionally taunting him with the fact he would be alone for the rest of eternity, he held nothing against either of the couples he just wished he wasn't so lonely.

As always around this time his thoughts travelled back to an alleyway in New York and a girl dressed in a nurse's uniform holding his face in her warm soft hands… _"What are you smiling at?"_ Edward snapped back to reality to find Emmett staring at him from the other side of the table they were helping Esme to decorate. "Nothing" Edward moved to the kitchen to get the flowers from the sink and Emmett continued as if he hadn't moved "You've been zoning out all day, what's with you?" Edward put the flowers in the vase and moved towards the door "Nothing, oh and by the way Esme said you need to go do some more wood before the guests arrive" _"I still think this is a bad idea, what if I attack someone?"_ Edward shook his head and smiled at Emmett "If you're worried, talk to Esme she'll help you out" and he quickly left the house went to a spot where he usually found peace from the newlywed's antics.

Even after seven years the girl's eyes still haunted his mind and he often had to stop himself going off to hunt the girl down and talk to her again. Edward had realised over the years as he replayed the events over in his mind that the girl, Swan as he found out later hadn't flinched at how cold his skin was when she held his face and hands or at the unusual colour of his eyes as she looked into them and he found it disturbing and slightly saddening that he was unable to read her mind and hear her thoughts.

When the war had stated he had wondered if she had joined up to nurse the wounded, she seamed the type to do so, but as he thought that he had been struck with an irrational fear for the girl's life and Esme had to calm him down for hours to stop him tracking her down and then… well even nearly six years later he still didn't know what he would have done if he had found her, he had imagined she had married and had children by now and who was he, an immortal, cold vampire to take her away from that, she deserved life and he hoped she was happy what ever she did.

Edward heard cars approaching the house and he knew that his presence would be required back at the house. He moved away from his quiet spot and ran back towards the house to offer his support to Rosalie and Emmett during the party and to leave his thoughts of the Swan girl behind till the party was over.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can hardly feel my fingers... T_T

Well I hope you all liked it, I'm off to go soak my poor aching fingers!

I really need you guys to tell me if I should include a meeting with the tribe for Bella or not, I'm all for it but it's you guys who read it so it's up to you.

Please review!

Skyla123

xxx


	6. Chapter 6

Hiya and thanks to all who commented last time! Well this had been the longest story I've ever done so far and it still not finished! I sense many sleepless nights ahead for me to finish this story and the ridiculous amount of college work I have to do. At this rate my poor fingers are going to fall off! Anyway this is the chapter where Bella and Lulu meet the Quileute tribe and where Bella and Edward have their infamous first Biology lesson together!

To give myself a short break to do some necessary college work I might do a quick Edward's POV of this chapter for you to read while I get the work done, please comment if you think this is a good idea!

Thanks again!

Skyla123

xxx

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners except those that belong to me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

September 25th 2004 – Forks – Washington

The car's lights cut through the dark thunderstorm like a knife through butter speeding Lulu and Bella to their new home in the sleepy town of Forks. The new house was on the outskirts of the small town and as they drove through the sleeping town Bella sighed as she waited for the lights to change. "Bella what's wrong dear?" Lulu sounded worried and that made Bella feel even worse, "It's nothing Lulu, don't worry about it" she knew that Lulu hadn't bought it for a moment but she really didn't want to discuss 'that' in her new car. It had been a birthday/goodbye present from her brothers and she really didn't want anything to happen to it.

They finally pulled away and left the sleepy town behind them and arrived at their new home. It was like the one in New York and Bella felt a pang of loneliness and homesickness. The lights were on as they arrived hinting that Nooj was already there waiting for them. They dashed trough the rain and entered the house dripping wet even from their minute exposure to the storm, "Well talk about two drowned rats!" Lulu smiled drying herself in the blink of an eye and went to great Noojas Bella dried herself with her own magic.

"I can't stay for long but at least till you get your things packed away, Bella you start at the local high school on Monday" Bella just nodded and headed to the library to start putting her book collection away. "I'm worried about her Nooj, ever since we announced the family had to split up for a while she's barely said a word, and she found out on her birthday of all days!" through Nooj's mind Bella could see Lulu shaking her head with her arm supporting at as she did so.

"The council had no choice Lulu, and besides the others keep in contact don't they?" Bella knew Nooj was trying to make light of the situation but the fact that the entire southern clan had been wiped out by three vampires was nothing to make light of. "It's not the same Nooj! I want all my children here where I can see them, and we need to help Bella adjust to her new power, the poor girl still has difficulty controlling it at the best of times" Bella hated being the centre of attention but ever since the end of WWII she had found she had a new power. The power of premonition, the same power Lenne had before she died. The family realised this after Bella told them she was having visions while she was awake.

She waved her hand and all her books jumped onto the bookshelf in the correct order and went to the window seat to watch the rain fall and listen to the conversation outside the room._ "Bella, can you come here dear?"_ Bella heaved herself off the window seat and went back into the entrance hall, "Bella I need you to try and see if there is anything in the future we need to know about…" Bella nodded and closed her eyes and let the still strange power show her images, the images swirled and showed flashes of different things.

"Well, Gippal is going to blow up his house if he tries to fire his new bullets in the range under the house, Yuna and Tidusis going to buy that house they were looking at, and…" the images suddenly showed Lulu and herself in a field along with it seamed Native American Indians. The conversation was serious due to the look in Lulu's eyes in the vision.

Thanks to the cloaks that bothshe and Lulu were wearing Bella could hardly see their faces but their eyes were clearly visible. "I think…we are going to have a meeting with some Native Indians, and for some reason we're wearing our cloaks…" Nooj nodded _"I wondered if you were going to pick up on them Bella" _Lulu looked between them both, "When is the meeting Bella?" Bella focused her mind "Tomorrow night, great just what I need before starting high school, again."

The next day they received a summons via a phone call just after Nooj left them to return to the council. Bella's vision was correct the meeting was withthe local Native Indian elders, who made it clear in their phone call they knew what they were. That night Lulu and Bella put on their cloaks, "Well I don't know about you Bella, but I think I'll ride on my broom tonight, what you think?" Bella grinned and nodded her approval "Well they are expecting witches, so let's not disappoint them!" In an instant they had summoned their brooms. Bella was thankful she had put on her black jeans and Lulu wore one of her usual elegant black full length dresses. They mounted, kicked off and went to the specified field.

The Indians were waiting for them as they landed elegantly in the field before the three men a good distance away. "You are the witches?" the old man in the wheelchair was nervous _"The tribe has never had to deal with witches and 'them' before at the same time!" _Bella was interested at this mysterious 'them' and scanned the other men's minds. The man on the left of the speaker was scared, she could see all the stories he had been told as a child about witches and the tribe's people, the Quileute tribe as she found out and she smiled, how these Quileute's liked to exaggerate!

"Yes, I am Lulu and this is my daughter Isabella, and who are you?" the man on the right was staring at Lulu trying to get a look at her face. When he saw her eyes he began to shake violently and the other men with him were surprised and worried at his reaction. _"__Vampire__!"_ Bella was surprised that these men knew about vampires but if they knew about them then why not vampires as well. Billy Black was panicking _"Oh God he's turning! Calm down you fool or they will find out you're a werewolf!"_ Bella stepped forward as the man began to move towards Lulu and raised her hand. The man fell to the ground and his companions began to panic.

"Calm down, wolf Lulu is not a vampire, with your sense of smell I'm surprised you couldn't figure that out" Bella notice her words seamed to shake the old men "How do you know he's a…" Billy Black seamed unable to finish the sentence so Bella did it for him. "Lulu told me about your kind, you're shape shifters that turn into wolves. Don't worry it won't change anything between us."

Bella's words made the younger man calm down little so she released him. "I am Billy Black and this is Seth Clearwater and Sam Uley, we are the protectors of the Quileute tribe. I believe you have been here before in my grandfather's time, you knew him as Ephraim Black?"

Lulu smiled, she had mentioned Ephraim Black before as a good man. "Yes I remember him, I was sad to learn of his passing. He was a good man; always fair to me and my children" this caught Sam's attention "Children? You have more then her?" Bella could tell Lulu wasn't happy with how Sam had referred to her by the look on her face alone.

"Yes I have another five daughters and five sons, Isabella is my youngest" the empathizes on Bella's name wasn't lost on Billy Black. "We mean no offence but we have to work out a treaty with you to allow us to live side by side without any repercussions on our tribe or the town's people."

Bella was suddenly attracted to a thought in Sam Uley's mind as Lulu, Seth Clearwater and Billy Black were discussing the terms of the treaty. _"__We don__'__t need this right now, the vampire alone are bad enough but Witches as well? Billy should get rid of them; we can__'__t handle both at the same time!__"_Seth Clearwatercleared his voice "So if you are happy with the conditions, we can part ways. Thank you for your time" Bella stepped forward.

"Hold on, is there anything we need to know about the people living around here?" Seth and Sam exchanged worried looks; Billy Black squared his shoulders. "Are you ladies familiar with vampires?" Lulu and Bella nodded "Well there is a family of them living here at the moment, four of them go to the local high school and one is a doctor at the hospital. There is another who says at home, they are bound by a similar treaty to us as well. I hope that answers your question." The men left the field and Lulu and Bella flew home.

As Lulu fussed around the house getting the place set up properly, Bella went to inspect the truck Lulu had bought her to go to school in. After making sure the engine was working Bella thought over Billy Black's words. A family of vampires, that was bad. But if they were bound by a treaty with the Quileute tribe them maybe they weren't so bad after all. Just like her vampire rescuer from so long ago.

_"__Bella? Can you come give me a hand dear? I can__'__t find the cauldrons for the basement room! Did we leave them behind?__"_Bella sighed and ran out of the garage and back into the house.

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Bella pulled her truck into an empty space in the high school parking lot. Bella hopped out, grabbed her satchel and locked the truck up. Her eyes surveyed the cluster of buildings that made up the school itself; she then found the one with the office plaque. After going through the usual talk and receiving the usual paperwork she always got when she started a new high school she set off for her first class.

At lunch she found herself at a large table with the thoughts of everyone around her, especially the males all on her. There was one girl, Jessica, whose thoughts were all on some boy named Mike. _"Everyone's looking at me today too. Isn't it lucky Bella had two classes with me…I'll bet Mike will want to ask me what she's…"_ Unknown to Jessica, it seamed Mike had developed an obsession with Bella and reading his thoughts made her uncomfortable. _"…wonder what music she likes…maybe I could mention that new CD…"_

Another girl called Angela wasn't being obsessive as the other people around her at Bella's arrival; she was busy with other thoughts, _"…tons left to do tonight! Trig and the English test. I hope my mom…"_ Bella was grateful that at least one person at the table wasn't obsessing over her or throwing mental daggers in the case of the girls.

Bella was focusing on blocking out the mental noise of the cafeteria when a vision came unbidden to her mind. It was a table at the other end of the room with five people sat round it having their own private conversation. She could hear one of the girls saying "Shall we?" and they all rose and left the table heading towards the door. Their skin and the way they moved told Bella that they were part of the group of vampires Billy Black had mentioned the night before.

As the vision ended Bella turned in the direction of these people and saw the events play out as she had only moments before. Bella tuned in to the thoughts of the tall male in the group, _"Jasper so owes me a rematch. Maybe I'll try tackling him when we get to the house… oh shit! Rosalie wants me to help her in the garage. Damn, well maybe later on tonight…"_

Bella was amused at his thought and barely stopped herself laughing at his thoughts. She tried the smaller blonde male's mind next, _"Emmett is really wound up. I bet he's still sore about our match earlier on. Well better keep an eye on his mood so he won't try and sneak attack me like last time. Oh wait, Alice said she wanted to go shopping later, sorry Emmett no rematch tonight!"_

The blonde female was busy thinking about her self and her car back home so Bella didn't bother diving too deep into her mind. The small elfish girl's mind was far more interesting, _"I wonder what that new shop is Seattle has in stock? Well I suppose I can get Jasper some new shirts while I'm at it. Oh, Edward needs some new shirts too, well that shouldn't be too hard. Now then what to get for little old me…" _Bella smiled, she reminded her of Rikku when she was planning one of her massive shopping sprees. Someone at the table asked her a question and she automatically responded while her mind focused on the last male in the group with the wild coppery hair.

Nothing.

Bella broke into a cold sweat; the hairs on the back of her neck went up just like they had back in 1938 in the alleyway. She rose quickly murmuring her apologies and went after the group out into the drizzle. She went to her truck and sat down inside and got focus back on the tall Emmett's mind again. She studied this Edward's face closely, the shape, the colour everything was identical to the vampire that saved her. His eyes were a different colour; dark butterscotch compared to his companions eyes, but as she focused in on his eyes she was suddenly taken back to that cold dark alleyway.

It was him.

It had been over sixty six years since she had set eyes on him and he hadn't changed at all apart from his eyes no longer being blood red. She finally had a name to the face of her rescuer; Bella sank down in the seat of the truck and focused on steadying her heartbeat again. She remembered the Jessica girl saying that they were adoptive brothers and sisters, so those people were his family. Bella couldn't help but smile, maybe she'd get a chance to talk to him again. He wouldn't make the connection between herself and the nurse from so long ago, but Bella was too happy to be sad at that moment.

Bella looked at the clock on the dash and realised she was late for Biology; she dashed out of the truck and made record time to the classroom and joined the queue entering the classroom. She went to the font and did the usual paperwork with the teacher, a man of average knowledge judging by his thoughts going through her mind. _"Yes!"_ Bella couldn't help but cringe at the thoughts of Mike Newton as she turned looking for an available seat.

Edward was there.

The only available seat was right next to him; Bella made her way to the seat and watched him make room for her at the desk. She sat down next to him and organized her things while the teacher got the students attention back from my entrance. Bella focused on the teacher so as not to stare at Edward to openly but she stole a glance every so often. He had a slight frown on his face and seemed to be focusing on something really hard; the hairs on the back of Bella's neck went up again and she turned her eyes back to his still form next to her. She noticed he was making the furrow between his eyes bigger just like when he was mad the last time they meet.

The lesson ended all too soon for Bella but before she had a chance to talk to him he ran off to his next class, disappointed she went to gym class. Apart from Mike Newton treating her like a new toy Bella managed to enjoy herself and she headed to the office after class to hand in the paperwork to the sectary lady. Bella had the shock of her life when she found Edward talking to Mrs. Cope himself, so she waited for him to finish while she got a chance to get her heart rate back to normal.

From the woman's mind she got the impression that Edward wanted to drop his Biology class, this made her sad since it was the only time she would have around him. It seamed for what ever reason this was impossible and Edward thanked the woman but she could hear thanks to her superior senses a hint of annoyance in his velvet voice.

He left the office quickly and Mrs. Cope brought her heart rate down as she processed her paperwork and bid her good afternoon. Bella left the in time to see a silver Volvo speed out of the parking lot with Edward and his family inside. Bella made her own way to her truck and stuck in a CD she made in the player. A vision came to her just before she turned the key in the ignition, she saw the table from earlier again but this time it was missing one occupant, Edward.

Bella quickly focused to find the reason but all she saw was Edward talking to a blonde haired man with a look of confusion and anguish on his face. The next thing she saw was a lonely stretch of snow covered road, Bella knew he wasn't coming back anytime soon and this made her feel empty inside.

She had to sit for a while to calm herself down, so she let the music wash over her as she started the truck and headed home to help Lulu finish the unpacking before going out for a meal together in Port Angeles to celebrate.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My poor fingers... oh God I can't feel them anymore! T_T

Anyway please comment and give your opinions on the Edward POV idea.

I'm off to go get some life back into my fingers!

Skyla123

xxx


	7. Chapter 7

Hiya and thanks to everyone that reviewed! ^_^

Well this is a quick Edward's POV of chapter six to tide you over while I get my college work out of the way for Christmas. Between you and me I don't want to be worrying about college work while I'm opening my presents!

Will update ASAP!

See you soon!

Skyla123

xxx

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners except those that belong to me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a heavy drizzle that greeted the students as another school day began. Edward rolled his silver Volvo into the parking lot and in his usual space. The tension in the car was high due to the meeting the family had had the night before. Carlisle had arrived home from the hospital with a message from the Quileute tribe elders. Edward didn't need Jasper's powers to know that everyone was curious about the message, Carlisle went to the dining room table and they all gathered round to discuss the message.

When they were all seated Carlisle held Esme's hand, "The Quileute elders have informed me that another family has moved to the area." Emmett couldn't see the significance of this "So what's the problem, families move here all the time" Carlisle smiled "Yes that is true Emmett, but I mean that this family have the Quileutes worried, very worried."

Everyone stared at Carlisle, "How can you be sure?" Esme's thoughts were filled with worry for the family _"What could have them that worried apart from us? Does that mean the family's in danger?"_Edward moved to Esme's side and held her hand. Carlisle smiled fondly at her "Well judging by the stress levels in the elder's voice, I doubt there is any danger for us at least."

Edward could hear Alice still trying to get a glimpse of who these people were as she got out of the car with Jasper. Emmett was brooding over the fight he and Jasper had earlier that morning and was wanting a rematch and Rosalie… well was just being her usual self. The school was alive with curiosity at the new girl that was starting that day, some girl who had moved here with her mother into a house outside of town. Edward was curious to know what had scared the Quileutes that badly, and what possible dangers they could have for the family so he decided to probe the girl's mind at lunch.

Lunch time came and the family was sat round their usual table with their trays of untouched food, or props as Alice called them one time. The new girl, Isabella Swan or Bella after she corrected people, was sat among a large group of people that included Jessica Stanley. _"__Everyone's looking at me today too. Isn't it lucky Bella had two classes with me…I'll bet Mike will want to ask me what she's…"_ Edward felt sorry for the new girl having to put up with Jessica's two-faced nature, plus having Mike Newton stake an unknown claim on her further earned her his sympathy. The only person who wasn't obsessing over the new girl was Angela Weber, _"…tons left to do tonight! Trig and the English test. I hope my mom…" _Edward tried to get a hold of the new girl's thoughts to find out more about her…

Nothing.

If Edward's heart was still beating it would have stopped at that moment. He tried again to focus on the girls mind while the other voices around the table swirled in his mind. _"…wonder what music she likes…maybe I could mention that new CD…"_ Mike Newton's thoughts weren't much help to Edward as he tried to concentrate on the new girl. Emmett was getting impatient, _"Well?" _Edward just shook his head, out of the corner of his eye he saw the girl stare at the table while the people around her prattled on about anything they could think of. Rosalie was the first to rise "Shall we?" Edward grabbed his tray and followed Jasper to dispose of his tray.

Emmett was thinking his usual thoughts _"Jasper so owes me a rematch. Maybe I'll try tackling him when we get to the house… oh shit! Rosalie wants me to help her in the garage. Damn, well maybe later on tonight…"_ Edward smiled slightly _"Emmett is really wound up. I bet he's still sore about our match earlier on. Well better keep an eye on his mood so he won't try and sneak attack me like last time. Oh wait, Alice said she wanted to go shopping later, sorry Emmett no rematch tonight!" _Edward was glad that Jasper was focusing on something else apart from the blood of the people around them.

"_I wonder what that new shop is Seattle has in stock? Well I suppose I can get Jasper some new shirts while I'm at it. Oh, Edward needs some new shirts too, well that shouldn't be too hard. Now then what to get for little old me…"_ Edward sighed, Alice was going to ransack his closet again, and he didn't need her power to know that was in his future. Edward tried to focus on the girl again but some resistant force was hiding the girl's mind from him. He followed his siblings into the drizzle and headed for the biology lab while they all went to their own classes.

Edward sat down at his lab table and set up his books and awaited another hour of boredom about a subject he held several advanced degrees in. As the last few students entered the lab he noticed the new girl was the last to enter the room. After doing the usual paperwork with the teacher, she turned and looked for a spare seat. _"Yes!"_ Newton was having a field day; his mind was working overtime with fantasies about the girl before him and felt a pang of annoyance the chair next to him was taken.

The girl made her way towards Edward's desk and he cleared a space for her, then the fan blew her scent towards him. The scent hit him like a wrecking ball to the head; he was suddenly no longer in a lab but back in an all too familiar alleyway with the girl who had haunted his thoughts for over half a century. Edward focused on the girl's face; the heart shaped face, the paleness of her skin all matched hers exactly, he then focused on the girl's deep chocolate brown eyes.

It was her.

Edward tried to gain access to her mind and still found nothing; he watched her set up her things on the desk while the teacher talked in the background. His mind was in a complete spin, it couldn't be her… yet she did share the same last name as the girl he saved, a relative perhaps?

Her scent of freesias however left no question; it was exactly the same. Edward couldn't fathom how over six decades later she was still alive and sat next to him in a biology lab. He frowned and studied the girl closely, her size and shape were the same as far as he could tell, and the hair might have been longer but in everything else she was the same.

Isabella Swan.

Bella.

It fitted her perfectly, finally he had a name to fit the eyes that had always haunted them since their brief encounter so long ago… but how was she still alive?! He noticed that the girl, Bella, was stealing glances at him every so often. Despite the confusion he felt at her being alive, every time she looked at him he felt a rush of something he couldn't identify and this made him frown harder. The lesson ended and Edward left the classroom as fast as he could and darted for the safety of his car, inserting a CD that usually calmed him into the player.

Time passed and Edward focused his mind on all the memories he had of his Swan and compared them with the Swan girl he had just left, he was right, she hadn't changed at all. Edward shook his head, he knew this Bella was the girl he saved but he needed to confirm it, and the first thing that came to his mind was to change his timetable to have more lessons with her.

He went to the office and tried to convince Mrs. Cope to change it, the office door opened and the scent of freesia filled the room, Edward knew Bella was in the room and he had to get out of there before he did something stupid. He thanked Mrs. Cope and left the office, he moved quickly to the Volvo where the others were waiting for him. He started the engine and speed off out of the car park and down the road, "Edward, what are you doing? At least pretend to be going the correct speed limit." Edward ignored Rosalie and kept on going, eventually Alice had a vision of a lonely road at night covered in snow.

"You're leaving us?" Edward nodded; he needed to talk to Carlisle before he left. The others left the car and Edward drove to the hospital, thankfully Carlisle was on one of his breaks and he ushered Edward into his office. _"What's wrong Edward?"_he moved to his desk and sat down waiting for Edward's reply. "Do… do you remember that girl I told you and Esme about when I came back?" Carlisle nodded "Well… I saw her today." If it was possible Carlisle's face went even paler then usual, _"That's impossible Edward, she'd be at least seventy years old by now."_Edward started pacing back and forth, "I know, but I'm telling you Carlisle it's her, she was sat right next to me. Her face, her scent…it's all exactly the same!" he could hear Carlisle trying to come up with a rational explanation.

"_This is impossible, perhaps she's a relative? No, Edward was certain it's the same girl, well perhaps she's one of us…I wonder…"_Edward shook his head and turned to face Carlisle "No, she isn't one of us, of that I'm certain…I…I need time to think about this Carlisle…" Carlisle rose from his desk and held Edward's shoulders in a tight grip _"Do what you think is right, but Edward, don't stay away long ok?"_ he turned to his desk and tossed his keys to Edward "It's got a full tank, I'll take the Volvo home. Be safe son."

Edward ran to the parking lot and was in Carlisle's car in a flash and started the engine, the engine purred to life and Edward drove away from Forks and headed towards the north. The whole drive was slow for Edward even though he was going a hundred times over the speed limit. The whole way his mind showed him a pair of deep chocolate brown eyes, trapped in the same expression as they had been for over a century. His mind still couldn't fathom how she was still alive, but Edward was determined to find out.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's official people…I can't use my fingers! T_T

Please review!

Skyla123

xxx


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! ^-^

Well for those who wanted a bit more about Bella's powers I hope this chapter answers any questions you have. Now that my college work is at a reasonable level I might be able to get a few more chapters done.

See you soon!

Skyla123

Xxx

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners except those that belong to me.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ever since Bella had sensed that Edward had left Forks she had been avoiding school. During the meal in Port Angeles, Bella filled Lulu in on the situation with Edward and instead of being angry she offered her support. Lulu managed to keep the school and well wishers at bay while Bella lived like a hermit in her room. Eventually after three days Lulu ran out of patience, and practically dragged Bella down to the basement to practice her magic.

Lulu gave her a simple potion to make while she went upstairs to grab a spell book, potion making had always calmed Bella so she was soon chopping up ingredients and throwing them into the caldron. Lulu came back with the book and while the potion simmered they practiced their elemental magic. Bella managed to manipulate fire into the shape of a phoenix and sent butterflies of water fluttering round the basement. Lulu created a wolf out of snow and ice and called a dragon made of lightning out of her hand that joined Bella's phoenix and butterflies in flying around the basement.

"_You have to go back to school soon Bella, you can't stay away for ever"_ Bella stroked the wolf that came and sat at her feet "It's complicated Lulu" she waved her hand and her phoenix and butterflies disappeared. Lulu dismissed her dragon and went to check on the potion, _"Want to talk about it?"_ Bella lowered herself and sat on the floor while the wolf curled up beside her. "I…I can't really explain it Lulu, it feels like he doesn't really remember me" Lulu kept on stirring the potion "I know vampires never forget, but he's acting I feel like I've done something wrong but I don't know what!"

"_Bella, think about it from Edward's point of view, for all this time he thought you were either dead or were a little old granny somewhere. You can't blame him for acting they way he did, you both may be over a hundred years old but you still think like seventeen year olds."_ Lulu levitated some vials to the caldron and began filling them. "What am I going to do Lulu?" Bella scratched the wolf behind the ear, "The only thing you can Bella, go back and face the problem head on" she turned and smiled at Bella "Now come here and help me label these vials, would you?"

Bella went back to school and tried to continue on as if nothing had happened; the thoughts coming from the Cullen table at lunch were ones of concern for Edward. Bella tried to find out if they knew why he went away but found nothing; they were as much in the dark as she was. Monday lunchtime came and Bella joined the queue as usual and she glanced towards the Cullen table. Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie were there like normal, but the thing that nearly caused Bella to have a heart attack was the boy sat with them.

Edward.

It took a while for Bella to gain control of her body again, it seamed to be going on auto-pilot as she sat down at her usual table. The Cullen's were all sat talking as per usual but Bella noticed that Edward wasn't taking part in the conversations like normal. Every so often she caught him staring at her and then he'd be distracted by one of his siblings and a little while later he'd be staring at her again.

Lunch finished and the students went out into the drizzle to their next lessons, Bella entered the lab and avoided Mike Newton's table like the plague and headed for her own. Edward was already there and was staring at her as she set herself up for the lab they were doing that day. Out the corner of her eye she saw him brace himself and turn towards her, "Hello" his voice was like soft velvet and Bella turned to face him. "My name is Edward Cullen; I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan." Bella nodded and offered him her hand, "It a pleasure to finally meet you, Edward."

He took her hand in his and they shook hands firmly, the look on his face told her he was surprised she didn't react to the coldness of his skin. She let go of his hand and turned towards Mr Banner who handed her a Microscope and some slides, she arranged them on the table while Edward got the answer sheet and wrote their names down in his elegant script.

The lab was one they had both done before, only at a more advanced level then this. They took it in turns identifying the status of the cells, and were finished long before any of the others had even finished the first slide. Mr Banner had noticed this and came over to their table, "So Edward, didn't you think Isabella should get a chance with the microscope?" Bella jumped to his defence "Its Bella please sir. Actually we both took it in turns to identify them." _"I doubt that"_ Bella frowned at that thought, "Have you done this lab before?" she nodded "Yes, with Whitefish Blastula" this shook him, and she could hear Edward laughing so softly only he and Bella could hear him with their superior senses. As Mr Banner went away mumbling to himself Bella spotted Mike Newton glaring daggers at Edward, _"Wish he'd stayed wherever he went."_

Bella was getting annoyed at Mike and to save him from getting backhanded to a wall she focused her attention back on Edward. "I think I upset him" he turned to face her and gave her a smile "Yes I think you did." She laughed softly and they began to chat about general things like the weather and school in general. The lesson ended all too soon for Bella and they left the lab together without breaking the conversation, Edward turned and faced her outside the language building "Well this is my stop" Bella frowned a little in disappointment. "Yeah I guess I'd better get to gym, see you tomorrow, Edward."

She gave him a quick hug and ran to the gym, and as she went the thoughts of passers by showed her Edward hadn't moved a muscle since she had hugged him till Emmett came and shook him out of his trance, literally.

"_I've never seen him actually talk to anyone for more then a word here or there. Of course he would decide to find Bella interesting. I don't like the way he looks at her. What did she say? 'Wonder what was with him last Monday?' _Mike was acting like a sullen child all through gym and Bella ignored him focusing her thoughts on her conversation with Edward. She went to her truck at the end of gym and saw the Cullens getting into Edward's Volvo, the car pulled out and as it went by she waved to Edward and he did the same back.

_"Who was that? Why was she waving at you Edward?"_ Bella guessed it was Rosalie who thought that "That's Bella, and why can't she wave if she wants to?" Rosalie mumbled her displeasure.

As she steered her truck back home Bella sang along with the radio and gave Lulu a hug when she got in the house. _"Someone's in a good mood"_ Bella smiled at her and went up the stairs to her room turning her music player up and began dancing round the room, _"Teenagers! One minute they're depressed the next their dancing round their rooms with the music on full blast."_

The next morning yielded snow and thick ice, Bella managed to find the snow chains for the truck and put them on before breakfast. She managed to get to school in good time and the silver Volvo was already there, and Edward was stood there with his sister Alice against the car watching the other students drive slowly into the parking lot, she waved to him and they both returned the gesture.

Bella parked her truck into the bay next to the Volvo and made her way towards them, "Morning! Where did all this snow come from?" Edward stepped forward and helped her across a large slab of ice, "You'd better get used to it, this happens a lot round here." Alice held her hand out as they came towards her, "Hi there Bella! I'm Alice, Edward's little sister!" Bella smiled and shook her hand "Nice to meet you Alice" her eyes it up and she hugged Bella hard "You and I are going to be good friends, I can tell!"

The moment was broken by both Alice and Bella getting a vision.

The parking lot came into focus and they could see students milling about the lot, suddenly a truck came squealing out of control into the lot headed directly for Edward, Bella and Alice. The girls came out of the vision at the same time, Alice whispered frantically to Edward as Bella took matters into her own hands. Bella discreetly raised her hand and pointed to the van, the trajectory of the van changed. Instead of heading towards them it would crash into her truck next to them missing them by inches. Bella turned and braced herself for the noise and found herself pressed down in the snow by Edward with Alice beside her. It hit Bella's truck with a sickening crunch; people stated screaming and ran over to the cars.

"Bella? Alice? Are you alright?" Bella raised her head and nodded; Alice was shaking slightly so Bella helped her sit up and rubbed her hands in comfort. Bella kept on holding Alice and murmuring words of comfort to her as Edward helped her up and they lead her away from the accident and into Jasper's arms.

The school was closed so that the wreckage could be taken away, Bella's truck wasn't that badly damaged but it was taken away to be repaired anyway. Edward offered to take Bella home but she declined politely, "It's not that far Edward, besides I think you need to get Alice home" she turned to Jasper and Alice and gave her a hug "See you tomorrow Alice, okay?" she nodded to Jasper and she waved goodbye to Edward as she headed for home.

Lulu had been worried when Bella finally arrived home; she had nearly been crushed by the force of her hug when she came in the hall. After explaining what had happened to Lulu, she managed to get into her room and lay down on the bed. Something about the accident had her worried and she couldn't figure it out, it was something about the driver… they couldn't find the driver when they had opened the truck up and they were still searching for him/her

It hit her like a slap to the face.

At the time Bella could remember thinking there was an unusual scent coming from the truck, now she realised what it was…vampire. The driver had been a vampire; this meant one of two things: either the vampire was after her and Lulu or it was after the Cullens…

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fingers aching…nothing to worry about…I think…

See you all next chapter!

Please Review!

Skyla123

xxx


	9. Chapter 9

Hiya and thanks to everyone who reviewed! ^-^

This chapter finally has Bella reveal her powers in front of Edward! This took me a while to type, I'm currently suffering from a really bad chest infection and the medicine I'm on is making me drowsy…_

Anyway next chapter will hopefully include the meadow revelations; it depends on how I develop the story. This chapter mixes POV's a little so gomen if anyone gets confused.

Thanks again!

Skyla123

xxx

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners except those that belong to me.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next few days were predicted to be sunny and this meant the Cullen siblings would have to stay at home. Bella however, having no such limitations, turned up to the school early so she could enjoy the rare sunshine for as long as she could. As she was soaking up the rays she could hear Mike making his approach towards her, _"All I have to do is ask…she'll say yes, I know she will…"_ Bella groaned softly and turned to Mike giving him a small smile to be polite.

They chatted for a while about the weather till Mike made an observation, "Hey, your hair has red in it" he reached over to tuck a strand behind her ear, she flinched at the contact. "What do you want Mike?" that seamed to put him off his stride a little as he struggled to find his voice "Well…um…you know the dance coming up…well…um…I was kinda…I was wondering if you were going to ask me to go with you!"

There was a loud ripping noise coming from the direction of the trees that caught Bella's attention, Mike was oblivious to the noise and was still waiting for Bella's answer. "Sorry Mike, I'm not going to the dance I'm going to Seattle that day" Mike seamed to deflate and in another situation Bella would have laughed, "Anyway Mike I thought Jessica had asked you to go with her?"

_"Oh Damn! I forgot about that, I wonder is Seattle just an excuse? Maybe she's going with Cullen…maybe she likes rich boys…"_ another loud ripping sound came to Bella's ears and then Mike was on the floor, out cold, with a rather large branch lying next to him; Bella couldn't help herself as she started laughing.

She decided it was best to see if he was okay before getting rid of the branch, he was breathing and Bella guessed he'd probably have a headache for a while but he'd be alright. The lunch time chatter was noisy as usual and Bella focused to block the noise out. Jessica was talking about the trip to Port Angeles the next day, Bella glanced towards the Cullen table, and she wished Edward and Alice were there to talk to. Alice had somehow found out Bella's mobile number and the two girls had spent the previous night texting each other till about three in the morning about everything and anything that came to mind.

Bella's phone vibrated and she glanced at the screen; it was a text from Alice: "Hiya Bella! How's it going at school? Anything interesting" Bella chuckled "Same as usual. Oh Mike Newton got knocked out by a branch, does that count as interesting?" the response was instantaneous "YES!!" The bell began to ring so Bella closed her phone and headed off for class, following a brooding Mike Newton into the biology lab.

After an uneventful day at school Bella pulled her truck back into the garage and headed into the house. A delicious smell of baking bread came from the kitchen and Bella went to investigate, she found Lulu baking enough food to feed a small army and had to duck out of the way when a pair of saucepans flew out of the cupboard and landed on the hob. "What's the occasion Lulu?" Lulu turned to face her with a relieved smile on her face, _"Oh Bella, I'm glad your home. One of Lucianna's daughters has got married so I'm helping with the catering. Can you go and get the elderberries from the basement?"_ After finishing the baking Lulu went upstairs to prepare for her journey.

_"Will you be alright on your own Bella? I'd hate to leave you…"_Bella laughed "I'll be fine Lulu; I'm a big girl now." Lulu came down the stairs in her summer cloak "You could always come with me Bella, Lucianna would love to see you again" Bella shook her head and shoved Lulu playfully into the hall. "Just go already! Give my love to everyone" Lulu smiled and after a quick hug she and her boxes disappeared.

That night Bella hopped into Jessica's car and they headed out to Port Angeles, the place only had one store for dress shopping so it was only going to be a fairly quick trip. Jessica was taking a long time to pick a dress, so Bella suggested they split up and meat up back at the restaurant for dinner. Bella headed out towards the sea front and watched the ocean for a while, the water always reminded her of Lenne, her favourite colour had been blue as well which was why Bella wore blue as a way of remembrance of her lost brother and sister. The night began to creep in and Bella left the sea front and headed for the restaurant.

The restaurant was only a short walk up the sea front and was fairly busy but that didn't stop Bella from hearing a small plea for help coming from an alleyway up ahead. _"Oh God! Help!! Someone please help me!"_ Bella went into the alley and spotted four men advancing on a young girl, judging by the state of the girl she'd been running for a while and was now out of energy. The four men approached her slowly, one of them pulled out a pocket knife and Bella had seen enough.

Faster then the human eye was capable of following she knocked the knife out of the man's hand, the men were startled and then angry at the disturbance. "Don't just sit there! Run for it!" the girl didn't need telling twice and she bolted for it, and the roles were reversed Bella was now trapped with the men and they were furious.

Bella braced herself against the wall, she could hear the leader's mind coming up with is plan of attack and she braced herself to retaliate. "Stay away from me" she managed to keep her voice low and calm and the leader was thrown a little at the response, she could see he was expecting her to beg for mercy like the other girl. "Don't be like that sugar" he approached slowly, trying to get her to scream or tremble but Bella stood firm,_ "Brave this one. Maybe better, I guess…more fight in her." _One of the drunken men with him tripped over a garbage can, _"Shut up Jeff!"_ he was getting worried about people passing by and finding them.

Suddenly a silver Volvo came speeding round the corner nearly running the men over, they scattered like flies for cover as the Volvo span round facing the opposite direction. The driver side door opened, and to Bella's relief Edward stepped out. Bella didn't need to read his thoughts to know how angry he was, his eyes took in the situation and he turned to the leader who was picking himself up off the ground. "Stay there Bella" his voice was deathly soft and Bella knew he was going to do something rash, the other drunken fools had run for it the moment Edward had turned up so it was only the three of them.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edward picked the man up and threw him into the garbage cans, the noise was deafening but he was too angry to register the noise. He knew he had been right in following Bella to Port Angeles, Alice had warned him something was going to happen and he knew she was right to hide the details. His ears were ringing with bloodlust; he needed to kill this man, who had dared to threaten her just like that idiotic Billy Boy had long ago.

The mere thought of ripping this man apart piece by piece sent shivers of pleasure down Edward's spine, the need for the man's death clouded his vision and left a flavour on his tongue.

He slowly advanced towards the man, fully intent on showing him his version of hunting and what it felt like to be the prey. A flash of blue entered his field of vision and he suddenly found himself staring into Bella's eyes, eyes that were filled with determination. "Edward calm down! You've scared him enough don't you think?" he growled in response and fixed his gaze back on the man still struggling to free himself from the garbage. _"Damn it! This bitch isn't worth it! I'll find another one…"_

Edward grabbed the man and backhanded him into the other end of the alley, before he could follow a pair of arm snaked their way around his waist and held him in place. "Edward stop! That's enough! Please stop…" the fear in her voice calmed his anger instantly, the idiot got up and ran for it but Edward was focused on getting the fear out of Bella's voice.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bella hadn't meant to show her fear but her voice trembled as she begged him to stop, she knew he had heard it when he turned and held her in his arms. "I'm sorry Bella. I'm so sorry…" she didn't know how long they stayed like that but she was past caring. "Are you ok, Edward?" he stiffened "Not really. I have to keep telling myself it isn't worth anything, chasing after him…" Edward stiffened again and she knew he was getting angry again.

Bella pulled back a bit from him and looked him in the eye, "Edward Cullen, you are better then him so don't go sinking to his level! Come on, you can help me find Jessica and Angela, right?" he smiled and nodded. They got into the Volvo and headed towards the Italian restaurant, as they pulled up Jessica and Angela was just leaving. Bella waved and ran up to them with Edward following up behind, _"Oh Bella! I'm glad she's safe!"_ Angela hugged her as Jessica murmured her displeasure.

Edward came up behind her, _"Edward Cullen?! No freaking way! Bella's been holding out on me!" _Bella groaned Jessica was acting like a female version of Mike Newton; thankfully Angela managed to unconsciously diffuse the situation.

"Sorry! I got lost, and then I ran into Edward" she waved her hand in his direction; she knew they had already eaten but she had to ask anyway. Jessica was all for going back in, but Angela was more honest about it, "Sorry Bella, we just ate." Bella nodded, Edward must have seen the look on her face, "That's okay; I'll drive you home if that's alright with you two?" Bella hid a smile with her hand, poor Angela and Jessica, their minds were in a whirl so they just nodded and went off towards Jessica's car waving as they went.

Bella turned to face Edward who was holding the door open for her, "Shall we?" she smiled at him and entered the restaurant. Edward managed to charm the hostess for a private booth and they sat down, after the waitress took their drink order Bella decided this was as good a time as ever to talk to him. The waitress returned with their drinks and a basket of bread, Edward waved her away when she asked for his order and Bella simply asked for the mushroom ravioli and she went away disappointed she had failed to catch Edward's eye.

Bella drank her glass dry, Edward offered her his and she drank a little more before the ice cubes caused her to shiver. "Are you cold?" she shook her head "It's just the coke" she shivered again and felt her teeth begin to chatter. "Don't you have a jacket?" she shook her head, she looked up and saw him shrugging out of his own jacket. He passed it over to her and she put it on, it was cold but she expected that and she rolled the sleeves up to free her hands.

"That blue blouse looks lovely with your skin" she blushed, "That's the first time I've heard someone say that in a long time." Edward smiled and pushed the bread basket towards her; she took one and began to nibble on it. "So, care to share how you managed to be in the company of those men?" Bella smiled, "Well, I was walking along the sea front and spotted them cornering this girl. So I went over and I don't know how but the roles were reversed. Suddenly I'm the cornered one and she'd running away like a bat out of hell!" Edward laughed, it was a nice sound to hear after his growling so she couldn't help but join in.

The waitress returned with Bella's ravioli and went away again, "I followed you here today…" Bella's head shot up, Edward had his face in his hands. "I…I had a feeling you were in trouble…so I followed you, then you darted into the alley…" Edward's shoulders were shaking, Bella reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder, and he flinched with the contact. "I'm glad you did, I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't turned up!" he merely nodded and he silently watched her finish her meal.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edward watched her silently; she was eating her food with a small smile on her face. The waitress was still trying to catch his eye as she cleared the table for them and brought the bill, Edward handed her a fifty dollar bill and told her to keep the change. Edward turned to face Bella; she had suddenly frozen in place just like Alice did when she was having a vision.

She rose quickly from the table and headed outside, Edward followed her and they both went to the deserted sea front. Before he had a chance to ask her what was wrong the scent of another vampire hit him, Edward growled and placed himself in front of Bella.

The vampire was a few paces in front of them drinking from the body of a dead man, the scent of blood was intoxicating but Edward swallowed the venom pooling in his mouth. Bella stepped forward, "Get away from him, vampire!" the vampire was suddenly thrown away from the man and landed on its feet.

"_A Witch?! I thought they had been wiped out!"_ Edward stared at Bella, she stepped forward with a look of determination on her face, "Unless you want to end up a pile of ashes, I suggest you get the hell out of my sight, vampire." The vampire ran off and Bella sighed in relief, Edward watched her examine the body and then suddenly set it on fire with a wave of her hand. She turned to face him; he could see her tears reflected by the fire light and despite his confusion he felt he was by her side in a flash to comfort her.

"How…how did you do that?" instead of replying Bella hugged him tighter and buried her face into his chest, suddenly the wind picked up and Edward held her tighter. When he opened his eyes he realised they were beside his car and no longer on the beach...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think I'll leave it there for now…I need to put my tree up in my room.

Plus my fingers are giving me warning throbs...so I'd better stop.

Please Review!

Skyla123

xxx


	10. Chapter 10

Hiya and thanks to everyone who reviewed! ^-^

Gomen it's been a while everyone, a huge mound of work came out of nowhere and caught me off guard. On top of that I got a really nasty vomiting flu virus that knockedme two-for-six, aside from a really bad sore throat I think I'll live. Anyway this chapter was written in-between lessons, sickness and sleeping so forgive me if its pants in places, if adgustments are needed let me know.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and I hope you all get what you want for Christmas!

Skyla123

xxx

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners except those that belong to me.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The oncoming police sirens had managed to get Edward and Bella out of the comfortable silence they had reached since she had teleported them away from the beach. For a long while Edward had just held her close as she sobbed into his chest, and he had placed her in the car when the police came to investigate the flames on the beach. Edward focused on the road to begin with, but Bella could tell his curiosity was getting the better of him.

"Edward, if you have a question just ask it. I'll tell you what you want to know." He glanced towards Bella and he took a deep breath, "How do you know about…about…" he mumbled himself back into silence, Bella could tell it was difficult for him to talk about it. "I've known about vampires for over a century Edward, if that answers your question" Edward stared at her "How old are you?" Bella smiled slightly "Seventeen"; Edward turned his attention back to the road "How long have you been Seventeen?" Bella's smile faded as she turned to face the window "A while."

He was silent; Bella knew he was processing this information, "What exactly are you Bella? You're not a vampire…" Bella continued to look out the window, "We have many names Edward, Mages, Pagans, Wiccans, Mystics… but to be blunt, I'm a Witch." In the reflection of the window she could see Edward's eyes were null of any emotion, this more then his possible reaction scared Bella.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edward had never doubted his sanity before but that one sentence "I'm a Witch" caused his mind to whirl. Bella continued to look out the window, holding herself with her arms. He looked at the road, witches… he was sure Carlisle had mentioned them long ago in passing. It was impossible, witches didn't exist… but here he was as a vampire, a prime example that anything is possible. He studied her again, she look exactly like a normal human, nothing other worldly about her and yet she had somehow managed to teleport them away from the beach…

A sob broke him out of his musings, it was so quiet he nearly missed it he turned to look at her and in the reflection of the window he could see the tears falling silently. "You're crying" Bella gulped and brushed them off her cheeks.

"Do…do you want to know…everything?" Edward was torn, he badly wanted to know her properly but the subject caused her pain, he didn't want to cause her any pain if he could help it. "Only if you want to Bella, don't let me pressure you into anything" she nodded and looked out the window "Oh, you can let me out here Edward, my house is just down the track here." Edward was reluctant to let her go alone, so he drove down the track and got her to the front door. "Will you be alright alone?" she turned to him and gave him a small smile "Don't worry, I'll be fine." He watched her go through the front door; he didn't miss the look of worry on her face as she drove away from the house and headed home.

As he entered the house he noticed that Alice and Jasper were nowhere to be found. Emmett was in the garage with Rosalie, who was tuning her car for the umpteenth time and Carlisle was on a late shift at the hospital. He went to his piano, the melody he had been composing came to life as he moved his fingers along the keys. He was so lost in the melody he didn't hear Esme come up behind him. _"That sound beautiful Edward, does it have a name yet?"_ he shook his head and finished the song. _"What's wrong Edward?"_ Edward turned to face her "Nothing Esme, just trying to come up with a name for it, that's all."

He could tell she wasn't convinced but she let it pass, "Alice told me to tell you, whatever you plan for tomorrow you should do it…what does she mean Edward?" Edward shook his head, and as she left the room she gave him a smile of support.

Eventually Carlisle arrived home; Edward was waiting for him in his study and registered the lack of surprise Carlisle had at him being there. _"I knew you wanted to talk, Esme told me earlier she was worried about you"_Edward nodded "Remember the new family that came to Forks a while ago?" Carlisle nodded, "Well…the daughter…Bella she told me…she told me they were… witches!" he whispered the last word. Carlisle's face went a shade paler then its usual colour _"Witches! Are you sure Edward?"_ he nodded, the door suddenly broke in half and in the ruins of the wrecked door was Rosalie.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bella looked at the stars, as always the sight of the heavens displayed in the night sky calmed her and her worried mind. Her fondest memories of her early life was sitting on the roof with Lenne learning astrology, even now she could hear her voice as she calmly pointed out the constellations and their secrets. She leaned back on the roof tiles and focused on her breathing, the fact that Edward knew the truth made her anxious. She knew they would have to talk about it sooner or later, she had been hoping for the latter but she felt better now it was put in the open.

Eventually she got off the roof and headed back into the house, the voicemail on the phone was flashing. "Hi Bella! Tifa here, sorry about calling so late but I really need to talk to Lulu. Any chance of sending me the number? Hope to see you again soon little sis! Bye!" Bella whipped out her mobile and texted the number to Tifa. After submerging herself in the shower for nearly an hour she climbed into her bed, the silence was a blessing after the chaos of the day's events.

After a humid restless sleep Bella crawled out of her bed into a cool shower, allowing the cool water to wake her up for her day in Seattle. After drying off she went down the stairs, she crossed the hall heading towards the kitchen when a sound outside stopped her cold.

She opened the front door and found a silver Volvo on the driveway, Edward was leaning against the car looking at her. "Need a ride to Seattle?" Bella was confused, "How'd you know I was going to Seattle?" Edward smiled, "Alice."

Bella smiled, "Well if your offering… come in I'm just getting some breakfast" Edward moved away from his car and entered the house. He looked round the hall; "Esme would love this place" Bella smiled at the compliment and lead him to the kitchen. She busied herself making some quick waffles in the toaster as Edward looked round the kitchen, Bella finished her breakfast and grabbed her coat and shoes. Edward was waiting by the kitchen door, and they headed out side and she locked the door behind her.

The trip to Seattle was a quick one, Edward showed Bella where the bookshops were and they spent a long while looking through the shelves. Eventually after Edward had practically cleared out the music stores of their music they disposed of their bags back in the Volvo, and headed back to Forks. "Bella, I need to tell you something" she looked up from her book, "What is it Edward?" she could see him brace himself against the wheel.

"I told Carlisle about you, I know I shouldn't have but I needed to know if what you said was true. Anyway he wants to meet your mother; he needs to know if she is willing to talk to us." Bella laid a hand on his arm, "Edward, it's alright. As soon as Lulu gets home I'll tell her. What does he want to talk about?" Edward looked uncomfortable, "I'm afraid Rosalie heard us when we were talking about your family. Do you know her?" Bella nodded, "Well anyway, she was a little more anxious then the rest of us.

Bella closed her book, "You mean 'kill them before they kill us' anxious?" Edward flinched and slowly nodded. "I'm not angry; we're used to that reaction. It's not as bad as the witch trials Lulu had to go through, the stories she tells us are bad enough." Edward turned his head towards her, "Your mother lived through the trials?" Bella smiled at him "The Salem Witch Trials and many others to be exact." She laughed at the look on his face, "Any way I am sorry for Rosalie, she just wants a quiet life." Bella nodded, she looked through the window at the rain falling as they pulled up to the house, "The last thing we wanted when we came here was to cause any trouble."

Edward had to rush home to join his brothers in a hunting trip they were taking that night, as she watched him pull away she noticed that Lulu was home. "Bella?" Lulu came down the stairs and gave her a bone crushing hug, _"Well I see you have added to our great horde of books, we might have to make a bigger library." _Bella had to smile at that, she then remembered Edward's message "Lulu, we need to talk…"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Think I'd better stop there...I'm fighting my flu medicine to stay awake...and its winning...

Will hopefully write another chapter before Christmas...next chapter will contain the meeting between the Cullens and Lulu & Bella...

I think I might involve the tribe somewhere...if you think I should tell me via reviews...need sleep...

Please Review!

Skyla123

xxx


	11. Chapter 11

Well it's been a while, but thanks to everyone who reviewed last time, and Happy New Year!!!

This has been a really busy time for me, three re-sit exams and the never ending coursework is causing my poor brain to go into overload. Plus the fact I've had a mild case of writer's block and a job interview next week doesn't help much at all. T_T

Anyway this has been a bit slow in coming so Gomen for the wait and I hope it was worth it.

Skyla123

xxx

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners except those that belong to me.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the moon rose over the sleepy town of Forks, Bella and Lulu were preparing for the meeting with the Cullen clan. Lulu had taken the news better then Bella had expected, she had immediately contacted the Cullens and arranged the meeting Carlisle wanted. For the next week Bella had avoided school like the plague, she kept to her room and worked on her neglected art work.

Bella looked out the window as she finished sketching the New York of her youth, many over the years had praised her work but Bella never saw anything special in them. Adding the last touches to the picture she sighed and listened to Lulu get ready down stairs in the kitchen, as she listened she began to have the now familiar feeling of having a vision.

_The field was filled with people, the Cullens on one side and Lulu & Bella on the other. The talking suddenly broke off as everyone's heads snapped to the left... out of the trees came a huge wolf accompanied by two old Indian men… the fire was getting smaller as it faded into the distance and both Lulu and Bella watched it get smaller and smaller..._

"Bella? Are you ready to go? We mustn't be late!" she snapped out of her trance and made her way to the front door. Lulu smiled warmly at her, "Ready to go?" Bella nodded and they departed from the house into Bella's car and made their way to the meeting.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edward looked up at the moon hanging up in the sky; the others were waiting to set off for the intended meeting place with Bella's family. Rosalie was impatient to be off, she had wanted to confront the girl at school but she was apparently off with a violent stomach bug. Edward knew she was avoiding them, who could blame her…

Alice had been very quiet since the meeting had been arranged, her thoughts betrayed nothing but Edward knew she was worried. Carlisle finally came out of the study and everyone came to him, "It's time to go now, remember we must be polite to them, they haven't done anything to us so we must treat them accordingly."

Rosalie huffed and Emmett put his arm round her, "Come on Rose. Remember to be polite or they'll turn us into toads!" Emmett laughed at his own joke. Esme walked towards the door, "We should go now, we should be ready to receive them when they get there."

Edward lead the way to the field, he was trying to think of a way of apologising to Bella on her own so she would be spared any awkward questions. As he pondered this they arrived at the field, much to the Cullens surprise they were already there waiting for them.

Bella was leaning against the car, and briefly glanced in his direction before knocking on the window of the car door. A woman got out and slowly approached them with Bella not far behind, Rosalie let out a soft growl when they wee a few feet away, the woman stopped and Bella stood a little way behind her.

Everyone was silent for a while, Edward looked at Bella who in turn looked at him and gave him a small smile. Eventually Carlisle cleared his throat, "I must apologise for keeping you waiting. I'm Carlisle Cullen, this is my wife Esme, my sons Edward, Jasper and Emmett and my daughters Rosalie and Alice." Carlisle had pointed each out in turn and all had nodded their heads, the woman smiled and nodded. "It is nice to meet you all. My name is Lulu, and this is my daughter Isabella." The woman turned and looked at Rosalie, "My daughter tells me that your family is worried about our presence here, Carlisle" she smiled at Rosalie who was growing more nervous and agitated by the minute.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bella could sense Rosalie's growing agitation, while Lulu and Carlisle were exchanging pleasantries Bella noticed Lulu was completely at ease among the vampires. She was still anxious about her vision that she hardly paid any attention to the meeting at all. Bella turned towards the place were the wolf had appeared and reached out with her mind, she could hear the car and the wolf approaching with some speed. "Lulu" she moved to her side and tugged her arm, "What is it Bella?" she pointed to the tree line "We have company."

Edward moved to her side, "She's right, it the wolf and his keepers are coming" the Cullens moved to stand with them all softly growling. The scent of the wolf was unmistakable now; the smell caused Bella to feel a bit nauseous but she held her ground. The wolf wasn't thinking like he did when he was human, his thoughts were all influenced by pure instinct as he sped towards them. Bella could hear Billy Black and Seth Clearwater speeding towards them, they were panicking about what Sam could do to infuriate the vampires.

She sensed Edward moving closer to her trying to shield her from the tree line. She grabbed his hand and he looked at her, she smiled at him and faced the trees still holding his hand.

The wolf burst through the trees speeding towards them, fangs bared and howling furiously. The wolf streamed towards Lulu who simply raised her hand, the wolf suddenly found himself floating in the air as if gravity didn't exist. "I believe you wanted to know more about us Carlisle Cullen, well we will give you a demonstration. After I deal with this wolf." She sent the wolf flying across the field into a large tree, it snapped in two as the wolf landed heavily on the floor. Bella moved behind Edward, she knew Lulu would try to calm him down without hurting him, but she knew if things got out of hand she would have to intervene.

Lulu moved towards the wolf who was trying to get untangled from the tree, Bella could hear him changing back into his human form. Sam managed to get out of the tree just as Lulu reached him; he backed away from her his heart pounding with fear. "You can't…you can't do this! Kill me and we'll tell everyone about you! You want that witch?! You want your precious daughter to be treated like a rat in a lab?!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edward couldn't help himself, the moment Sam had finished yelling at Bella's mother he had pinned him to the nearest tree by the throat. He had to let go of her hand to do this, the first real physical contact he had had with her since she came back into his world. And because of this wolf he had to let go of her, this added to the flames of his anger as he strangled him.

Lulu's hand went gently on his arm, he turned to her and she looked at him with a gaze full of understanding. _"Thank you Edward Cullen, I know what you are trying to do but this is not the way. Please go back to Bella, I'll deal with this." _Edward loosened his grip on Sam and let him fall to the floor, his family all breathed sighs of relief and he returned to Bella's side. She smiled and held her hand out to him, before he could take it in his own everyone's heads turned towards the field entrance.

Edward recognised two of the tribe elders getting out of the van and moving towards them, he could hear their shocked thoughts as they realised that Bella and her mother were here with his family. _"This is bad! What has Sam done? Why didn't he stay away?" _Seth Clearwater was panicking visibly with his eyes wild; Billy Black on the other hand managed to keep his face neutral.

"_This is unexpected. I'd better tread carefully…this could get out of hand."_ Edward moved in front of Bella as Jasper, Emmett and Carlisle did in front of their wives; "It's rather late for you to be out isn't it gentlemen?" Lulu moved in front of the group to face the men, levitating a dazed Sam with her. The men eyed Sam with worry, "Don't panic he isn't harmed, well apart from a bump to the head when he attacked us. As far as I can remember this is neutral land, so you have no reason to attack either the Cullens or my family… why did you come?"

Edward felt Bella grab his hand, he turned his head and gave her a smile of encouragement as he returned his attention to the tribe men. He noticed the men shift uncomfortably as they looked at Lulu; she gave off the same aura as Carlisle that commanded respect so he knew they would answer her question honestly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bella noticed Sam stirring on the ground as Lulu was speaking, his thoughts were of confusion and bewilderment at the fact he was beaten by a woman two thirds his size. _"Damn vampires! It's their fault, they came on our land! Their stench was all over the beach!"_ Bella was so busy watching Sam's memory at the beach she nearly missed the reply to Lulu's question. "We have reason to believe the Cullens have broken faith with us, this really doesn't concern your family madam." Bella stepped forward at this point, "That's impossible, how could they have done that when it's been sunny all day. How could they have possibly gone to your beach in this weather?"

She could see defeat in the older men's eyes as they came to the same realisation; Sam however wasn't convinced as he shot up from the ground. He was spoiling for a fight and Bella's patience surprised even herself, "What do you know of vampires' girl? I'm older and wiser then you on this subject, so I suggest you shut up and are grateful we are trying to save your life!"

Bella was about to give the wolf a taste of his own medicine when to her surprise, Alice got in between them. "Listen in you mangy wolf, don't think because they aren't Cullens you can treat Bella and her mother with such disrespect! Talk to them like that again and I can assure you that you won't be able to walk for a month, as far as I'm concerned they have just as much right to be here as we do!"

Billy Black rested a hand on Sam's arm shaking his head as he did so, "My apologies Alice Cullen, we will leave you now. Good night everyone. We will talk about this another time." Hardly anyone moves as the men left the area, Bella let out a silent sigh of relief that no one had lost their temper and started a fight.

Suddenly Bella got the feeling that they were being watched.

She turned searching the tree line for anything out of the ordinary as Lulu wrapped the meeting up, the families said their good byes as they went their own ways. Bella remained for a while with Edward as she looked through the gloom, "I'll see you at school then?" Bella registered his voice and nodded "See you there then" and she walked quickly to the car to avoid the hurt look on his face at her response.

Lulu didn't comment on the speed Bella was using to get away from the field as they speed through the town and down their drive way coming to a stop in front of the garage doors. Lulu hissed and disappeared into the house, Bella joined her seconds later to find the house had been ransacked from top to bottom.

Thankfully nothing irreplaceable had been damaged, but the rest had been trashed almost beyond recognition. The scent in the air was unmistakeable, "Bella is this…" Lulu didn't finish the sentence as Bella nodded her head. The scent was exactly the same as the one who drove the truck in the accident, to Bella it felt like a lifetime ago and she quietly watched Lulu surveying the damage.

She sighed and bent to pick the remains of the chandelier off the floor, _"Well no use crying over spilt milk, we'd better get a move on and clean this up, Bella go see what upstairs is like"_

As she tromped up the stairs to survey the bedrooms, the scent grew stronger.

"LULU!!!"

The vampire moved down the hall like a bolt of lightning, slamming Bella into the wall as he past, she managed to recover and continued following the vampire as it jumped down the stair well. Bella sent a bolt of energy his way and he roared in shock and surprise as he went crashing into the floor.

Lulu fired a ball of fire at the vampire that missed him by a hair's width as he headed for the door, Bella jumped down the stair well and sent another ball of fire his way and it caught him squarely in the back as he fled into the night.

Both witches watched him run till her was a speck in the distance, both thinking the same question:

What the hell is going on?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll leave it there for now...warning pangs from my fingers are never a good sign...

Next time will hopefully be the medow scene... I'm off to grab some sleep beofre my next class ~_~

See you soon!

Skyla123

xxx


	12. Chapter 12

Hello again everyone!

Gomenasai everybody for not updating since...January, was it really that long? Anyway the reason is as follows: writer's block. I fell prey to a particularly violent strain of the disease, still suffering truth be told and this caused the delay. Also my health has been like a rollercoster since the start of the new year and honestly if I had attempted to type anything it would have been so illiterate you would think I went mad or something.

To make up for my lack of updating, I've made this chapter a longer one then normal.

Part of this new chapter was written just before the writer's block hit and the rest I've typed up recently. This has hopefully continued the same thread I started back then, again your suggestions and reviews really make my day so all I ask is a little feedback and I'll be happy.

Skyla123

xxx

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners except those that belong to me.

* * *

After the break in, people started to notice the fact that Bella was hanging around with the Cullens instead of her old gang of friends. She couldn't work up the energy to care about their suspicious thoughts, she was tired physically and mentally from the events of the last few months, so much that she just wanted to put her worries behind her and sleep for a week. Jasper was worried about her emotional well being, but he wasn't sure what to say to her. Lulu had gone away to see her brothers and sisters to make sure they were okay after the news of another attack came from the council.

Bella couldn't believe it, that was the third attack and still the council had no idea who or what was causing them. Ever since the clan in South America had been wiped out the other clans had split up and gone into hiding, keeping in constant contact with each other. Lulu constantly worried about the others, and if they missed an agreed arrangement she would panic and call them frantically till they responded. Gippal, who had the memory of a goldfish at the best of times, was a constant cause of worry to Lulu since he always forgot to ring her if Rikku wasn't around to remind him.

The third attack was all the excuse Lulu needed to go and visit them, even as she got ready she insisted that Bella came along with her, Bella had politely declined going with her stating the need to make an appearance at the school. After many assurances it was agreed that the Cullens would watch out or her while Lulu was away, after a quick visit to say goodbye Lulu vanished on the Cullen's porch leaving Bella alone with the Cullens and sleepy Forks.

"Hello? Earth to Bella, you in there?" she jumped when her tired brain acknowledged that Alice was waving at her from the opposite side of the Cullen table. _"Wow she really looks out of it, wonder what's up?"_ Emmett had warmed to Bella immediately since the meeting; she was stuck with how similar to Zack he really was, looking out for her like a brother even though he had only just met her.

"I'm fine Emmett, just tired that's all…" she smiled as he jumped in his seat, the movement was so quick the rest of the canteen wouldn't have noticed it aside from the group present. "Sorry, I forget you can pull an Edward on us…" Bella's smile faded a little, Edward had gone away on a solitary hunting trip after the meeting and despite the protests of the other Cullens she knew she was the cause of it.

"Emmett, think before you speak." Rosalie had warmed up to Bella after the incident with the wolves, they weren't as close as Bella was to Alice but Bella knew they would grow closer with time. The bell rang signalling the end of lunch and the cafeteria emptied slowly, _"Here we go again" _Jasper was bracing himself for the onslaught of people moving by the table, out of all the Cullens he still struggled with keeping his blood lust under control.

The day finished uneventfully, Bella rushed out of the locker room after gym eager to get home. Her truck was parked next to Rosalie's car due to Edward taking the Volvo with him; it was still grabbing the attention of all the car fanatics even after nearly a week of it being there. At first they had used one of their spare cars, till Emmet and Jasper managed to punch holes all over it in one of their sparing matches. Bella and Alice were in fits of laughter as Rosalie chased them all over the house for damaging the car, yelling on how long it was going to take her to fix it and what she was going to do to them when she caught them.

Eventually the combined effort of Carlisle and Esme managed to calm Rosalie and save Emmet and Jasper's hides, by this point Alice and Bella were rolling on the floor with laughter. As a result Rosale was forced to use her pride and joy to bring them to school, the moment it pulled into the lot it had gained an audience of car fanatics that would always gather before they left the school.

Alice was waving to her just beyond the crowd of drooling fans, _"Fancy coming home with us tonight? Esme was asking after you" _Bella hesitated; she was lonely without Lulu but still didn't want to be a burden to the Cullens. She had gone to the house quite regularly over the past few weeks and hated to think what kinds of trouble she was putting them through, so she had avoided going to the house for a while.

Emmett came up behind Alice and was softly chuckling at the crowd around Rosalie's car, "God help them if they touch the paintwork; Rosalie would kill 'em" he moved towards the car to break the party up. "So are you coming or what? Esme really wants to see you" "I don't know Alice; I don't want to be a burden." Bella watched as Emmett nearly had to pry several fanatics off the bonnet of the car, "Come on Bella, at least come say hi to her, she's worried about you, we all are."

A yelp came from the crowd as Emmett started to push them away from the car, avoiding all skin contact as physically possible. "Okay I'll come over, come on we'd better help him before the idiots do something stupid…" The scratching sound was audible even from where they were standing as a huge chunk of the bright red paint work came off the bonnet of the car.

Everyone froze.

"_Oh Shit! Rose's gonna flip when she sees this!" _Emmett had a hold of the boy who had done it accidentally with his keys; he was turning every shade of green imaginable. Alice had run off to try and prevent Rosalie from investigating the noise, Bella on the other hand was signalling to Emmett to make him and the crowd disappear.

They didn't need telling twice.

Emmett stiffened as a familiar figure appeared came around the corner, Rosalie was walking to the car looking annoyed as Alice tried to distract her. Bella knew she had about ten seconds before Rosalie would notice the huge chip in her beloved car's paintwork. As Emmett joined Alice in 'Operation: Distract Rosalie before she kills the whole campus due to what they did to her beloved car' Bella tried to repair the damage to the bonnet.

"_What in God's name are these two doing? They're acting like children who got caught with their hands in the cookie jar…"_ Jasper was unaware of the developing situation but with frantic hand signals from Bella when Rosalie's head was turned to the other two, Jasper knew something was up with the car. Then he spotted the huge gouge in the paintwork. _"Crap."_ Rosalie thankfully wasn't looking at the car as that realisation went through Jasper's mind.

_"What are these two prattling on about? What the…Bella what are you doing near MY CAR?" _

"Just wiping it, some bird decided to loosen its bowels all over it." Bella wished she had a camera; the look on Jasper, Emmett and Alice's faces was priceless. Rosalie looked over her bonnet and opened the driver's door, the others moved to the bonnet noticing the paintwork was as good as new. They looked at Bella who gave them a smile before turning her attention to Rosalie, "_Are you coming over tonight? Esme was asking about you." _Bella nodded "Yeah, I'm coming over now. I don't want Esme worrying about me anymore then she already is."

The drive to the house was a quiet one, there was hardly any noise coming from the car in front which was unusual. _"Thank God for Bella! If she hadn't fixed the paintwork it would have been a massacre…oh man I wonder if she could fix that chip on my truck…" _Emmett never worried about things for long, another trait he shared with Zack. Bella wished that they would meet someday, she could just imagine what they would be like if placed in the same room. Then again maybe not.

They arrived at the house in next to no time, Bella got out of her truck and waited for the others to re-emerge from the garage. The wind coming through the trees brought the fine drizzle with it, Bella allowed it to wash her face as she listened to the stream and the sound of the wind in the trees. "Bella?" she opened her eyes and looked down at Alice's smiling face, "Come on, can't keep Esme waiting" they walked together up the steps and into the house.

Esme was waiting near the couch with a huge smile on her face, _"Welcome back Bella. We've missed you" _Bella went to her and gave her a hug, "Thanks for inviting me Esme, it's nice to be back." Esme then proceeded to fire her with questions about her day while moving her near the fire and peeling her wet jacket off her shoulders. "Any news from Edward?" Esme handed her a mug of chocolate and sat herself down in one of the armchairs. "Not yet dear, but he will soon I know it" the sad smile on Esme's face was quickly replaced when Carlisle entered the house.

"Edward called. He's coming home tonight." The mood in the house changed dramatically, everyone rushed to Carlisle asking questions as Bella quietly grabbed her coat. The crowd barely noticed her disappearance till she got to the truck, _"Bella, where are you going?" _she turned and faced Carlisle who was standing a little way behind her. "Home. Lulu said she might call tonight and I don't want to miss her. Could be important." Carlisle came closer as Bella looked at her feet; he put a hand on her shoulder. _"Edward didn't leave because of you. You have nothing to feel guilty about. He would be happy to see you again I'm sure." _

Carlisle's words ran around Bella's head as she pulled into her garage and killed the engine, glad to see her? Yeah right, more like act like a gentleman and then remove himself from her presence. The wind came through the trees as she closed the garage door, the sent of the trees was mixed with another that for a moment made Bella think Edward was stood next to her. She shook her head as she closed the door and went inside the house.

The answer machine flashed, hitting the button she bent down to take her boots off as Aerith's voice floated round the room. "Hi Bella, Aerith here. Just calling to make sure you are okay honey. Zack and the others send their love, please call us okay? We miss you…" a noise from the kitchen brought her back to earth, a vision of the upstairs struck. Every room had been trashed and most of their possessions were piled up in Lulu bedroom in a stack, then the vision shifted to an Indian boy hunting for matches in the kitchen. The vision ended as the door to the kitchen began to open...

* * *

The house looked the same as ever, Bella's truck had pulled in only mere minutes ago yet Edward was impatient to see her again. The trip had been a breather for his mind to digest all the information he'd got from Carlisle's mind after Bella had ran away from him. He wanted to also get a grip of the feelings she made him feel in her mere presence, for weeks he'd drowned in them and when he came back he knew exactly what he wanted.

He wanted Bella, both body and soul.

That realisation had deeply shocked him as it also caused him great pleasure. Visions of Bella and him together had haunted his thoughts for a long time, practically since he had first met her in that dark alley all that time ago. Seeing her again and getting to know her better had only made the visions more frequent and more detailed. Being a child of his generation he was ashamed to think such things, he had tried to focus on being her friend only finding it harder and harder to do so as time went by.

After the meeting when she had left him so abruptly a pure jab of pain and sorrow hit him as she drove away with her mother. Another emotion was anger, anger at himself for not stopping her and making her stay with him. Jasper had sensed it and tried to calm him but Edward snapped and ran alone back to the house.

He was furious, he could sense his eyes becoming darker and darker as his head filled with thoughts of running to Bella's house and to kiss her senseless against a wall. That was the thought that stopped him, his anger quickly disappearing leaving him with a feeling of emptiness. What was happening to him? The thoughts in his head were constantly changing, first it was up against a wall, then it was against a tree and finally ending up in his room on his couch. Each time the same look filled Bella's eyes: Fear. Pure uncontrolled fear.

Edward knew he had to get away before he did something to her he would never forgive himself for. By the time the others had got home, he and the Volvo were gone. While he underwent his realisation he isolated himself far away from Forks, only looking at his phone once when he received numerous phone calls from Alice. Out of the whole conversation two small phrases kept repeating themselves in his head:

Break in...Bella's house...

He watched her from the tree-line as she moved along the ground floor listening to a message on her answer phone; she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. "How the hell did you get in my house?" she sounded furious and Edward was halfway to the door when a flash came from the windows. The door opened revelling an Indian youth hurling out the door and skidding along the driveway, the youth picked himself up and faced her. "Hold on, look I'm just here to talk!" Bella stepped out as Edward returned to his former place in the trees, her eyes were flashing with anger as the wind picked up making her hair dance around her face wildly.

"In my day, when you went to a person's house to talk, you didn't break in while they were away, stack all their things into one place and then try to set fire to it! Have you no manners, or are you looking for a fight?" The youth turned pale, _"How does she know that? She hasn't been upstairs yet!" _the wind was getting louder and the boy was beginning to feel afraid and recall his grandfather's warnings. "Word to the wise Jacob Black, next time you want to spy on someone, don't pull a stunt like that. Now get off my land before I make you."

The youth hesitated, "Why should I run from you? You're not the boss of me bitch!" Before the word even finished leaving his lips, Edward was holding the boy by the throat, his feet barely touching the ground. "I suggest you leave boy, before _I make you _leave" he threw the boy towards the exit and the boy bolted like the devil was at his heals. Part of him was screaming to go after the boy and punish him for upsetting Bella, screaming to go and break his bones and make him beg for forgiveness long before Edward was willing to give it. He took half a step towards the boy's direction when a familiar scent reached him.

Edward turned to face Bella who was looking at him like he was a ghost.

"Why is it every time we meet, you always end up saving me?" she was smiling broadly now, lighting up her whole face making Edward stand in awe at the change all thoughts of revenge forgotten. "Habit I guess" he was aware of the rain getting heavier as time went by but he couldn't find it in him to care, Bella was here with him and he'd never been happier. She stood so close he could feel the warmth coming off her skin warming his own cold flesh. She was so close it was hard for him not to just reach out and pull her aginst him and hold her as tight as he dared to. Instead he focused on what she was saying, all the while holding himself in check as best he could as she filled him in on what he'd misssed.

"How long will Lulu be away?" her smile faded a little, "Well the last time she called she said maybe another week or so. I just hope she's okay after what happened…" Edward nodded, "I heard about that. Any idea who it was?" she shook her head. When Alice had told him, Edward knew something was wrong. Things like that never happened in Forks and he became very worried and angry. He had set off for home the next night. The phone began to ring in the background, "I'd better go answer that, it might be Lulu. It was nice seeing you again Edward." She turned to leave; Edward grabbed her hand, a plan forming in his mind.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" she turned to faced him, her eyes full of surprise at his question. "Nothing really" Edward smiled "There's a place I want to show you, do you want to come?" her eyes lit up and she nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow at nine then" she smiled "See you then" he let her go back into the house and left as soon as the door closed.

She said yes.

If Edward's heart could still beat it would have skipped a few beats as he played their talk over and over again in his head as he ran back home. His hand still tingled from where her hand had touched his, his face breaking into a smile as he saw his house looming up in front of him.

* * *

The town was still asleep when Bella woke up; she took her time in the shower and choosing what to wear for the day. Edward wouldn't show for another few hours so she entertained herself by finishing some of her neglected artwork. She looked out the window as she sketched, watching the sky get brighter and brighter as time went by. She looked down and found to her surprise a drawing of Edward sat at his desk in Biology, his eyes looking into her own from the page with her favourite crooked smile on his face. She smiled as she carefully pried the page from the pad, placing the picture in her folder gently.

Eventually Edward showed up bang on nine, she put her art away and went to greet him at the door.

The car ride up was a slow one, the truck seemed to have a personal limit of 50 mph and for school it was fine. Bella knew she would have to ask Rosalie if she could do anything with the speed, the look on Edward's face told her his displeasure. "I could _walk_ faster then this truck" Bella gave him a dirty look "This truck is old enough to be your car's grandfather. Show some respect."

They eventually came to a dirt track and after a while Bella stopped the engine, they got out and began walking through the trees. "So where exactly are we going?" "You'll see when we get there. Better get on my back Bella." She snapped her head towards him. "What did you say?" he was looking at her with an amused expression, "It will be faster if I carry you, not scared are you?"

She walked over to him and poked him in the chest, "There are many things in this world that scare me, but you are defiantly not one of them Edward Cullen. So wipe that smug look off your face and lets get going." Without a word he placed her on his back and started running, the speed was amazing and Bella couldn't help but laugh with excitement. The speed was fantastic, it was like being on her broom or in her car with the roof off.

All too soon the ride was over and Bella slid off Edward's back, the trees parted a little ways off and bright sunlight was pouring into the gloom. Bella headed towards the light and her breath caught in her throat. The trees parted to create a small meadow filled with all kinds of wildflowers, the scent of the flowers on the wind reminded Bella of Aerith's flower gardens and how she would tend them under the watchful eye of Zack while everyone else would enjoy the weather their own way.

Bella turned to look at Edward; he was a little ways back in the tree line away from the sunlight watching her. She signalled for him to join her, he hesitated and the look on his face was fear and indecision all at the same time. Bella walked back into the gloom and grabbed his hand; she ignored the look of surprise on his face and dragged him into the light with her.

* * *

The sun was warm as the afternoon light fell upon them both, Edward lay in the grass soaking up the rays as Bella amused herself with the wildflowers around them. He stole glances at her every so often; she sat there next to him using his stomach as a table as she made up bunches of flowers and had a gentle smile on her face. The light reflected off his skin made rainbows on her face as she worked, he felt his stomach clench as he watched them move with his breathing.

As if he ever needed a reminder of how different they both were. The longing to hold her was painful enough without having the fact he was a cold dead man and she a warm loving woman getting shoved in his face. Even now he just wanted to grab her, lay her down on the grass and ravish her to his heart's content. He mentally hit himself for even thinking to take advantage of her, instead he focused on her warmth and her hands playing on his stomach.

Bella made a small sighing noise, Edward wished again for some way to see into her mind to answer what that little sigh was about. "What are you thinking?" she jumped and looked at him, "Nothing important really" Edward raised his eyebrows at her "Well it is to me. What are you thinking?" He watched her for a while as she adjusted a bundle of flowers on his lap, biting her lower lip as she did so while he wished he could worry her lower lip for her with his own lips.

"This reminds me of home, that's all. The sight of all these flowers reminded me of my sister, she loved flowers and everywhere we lived she would have a flower garden." A flower floated down onto his hand, he felt her hand approach his to claim it back. Her fingers brushed his hand and reclaimed the flower; Edward had to swallow a growl of frustration as her hand returned to the pile of flowers on his stomach.

"This is much different from our first meeting, isn't it?" his eyes snapped open to look at her, she was still focusing on the flowers. "Yes, it is" she turned to face him with a sad smile on her face; her eyes had a far away look. "You know if someone had told me that night, I was going to be attacked by a drunken man and saved by a vampire, I would have asked them if there was a history of mental illness in their family." Edward laughed along with her, "Truth be told, I'm glad it did happened. Not that you got attacked, just that I was there to save you" Bella smiled at him, returning to her bundles.

How could she be so calm?

Here he was a vampire, a deadly hunter laying down in a field with a witch, a warm loving girl, and she wasn't battering an eyelash at the fact. Couldn't she see the look in his eyes every time he looked at her? He was far from a saint, he had killed many people and had long ago been fully prepeared to kill a man in cold blood in front of her. Why?

Edward sat up grabbed her hand, "Why? Why aren't you scared of me?" she looked at him with a perplexed look on her face. "Why should I be scared of you? Edward I trust you with my life, I'm not afraid of you" he searched her eyes, nothing but the truth shone out of them. She pushed him down onto the grass again, still holding his hand "Silly vampire, stop being stupid and enjoy the sun while it lasts. Besides vampires are usually afraid witches, I can't think why…"

Edward smiled, the relief making him feel light headed. She wasn't afraid of him, she trusted him...

She took a flower from the bundle and placed it behind his ear, "If it makes you feel better, I'm not afraid of you Bella. Not one bit." She chuckled at this, the sound playing with Edward's head and made the emotion he felt for Bella swell even more. The warmth from her hand calming him as he closed his eyes again, gently applying pressure to their joint hands when Bella tried to remove hers. He could hear the smile in her voice as she stopped trying to move her hand.

"Thank you, Edward."

* * *

I'm going to have to leave it there...fingers are giving the warning pangs again...

also my class is going to start soon so I have just enough time to upload this before I have to get going....

I hope this makes up for the delay.

This scene will continue into the next chapter

Please review!

Skyla123

xxx


	13. Chapter 13

Hiya everyone!

Gomen for taking sooo long to update! Its exam time again and I've been really busy doing a hell of a lot of revision, and I haven't found the time to write till now.

Thanks again to those who reviewed, all this feedback is making me feel so much better.

All I ask is a bit more of your lovely feedback and I'll be happy!

Skyla123

xxx

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners except those that belong to me.

* * *

He observed the vampire and the witch leave the meadow together. Her scent floated over to him on the breeze, keeping his own away from the male to avoid detection. He inhaled deeply.

It was her alright.

His mind was cast back; the memories were as sharp as ever. He remembered being in New York, walking the streets looking for a suitable 'meal', when the most delicious scent captured his attention…

_The scent belonged to a young girl, dressed in white with dark hair and brown eyes. The woman she was walking with was dressed in a deep blue dress; her scent followed the girls and hit him with force._

_Witch._

_His new 'meal' was walking with a witch. Suddenly it hit him; she had to be a future convert to the craft. He smiled, it was such a shame she wouldn't live that long. He growled, so low that the humans wandering past couldn't hear him. The witch however was a different story._

_Damn, she'd spotted him._

_The girl looked his way, trying to see what her guardian was looking at. Her scent got more potent as he smelled her fear. The woman bent down and picked her up, moving swiftly down the street. He followed close on her heels, soon he was close enough to reach out and pull the child out of her arms. He reached out to grab the child, her eyes grew wider as she watched him and the woman suddenly whirled round and yelled something._

_Suddenly they weren't alone anymore._

_He noticed that the woman had leaded him to an alleyway and into a group of men and women with looks of murder on their faces. He backed away slowly, his eyes never leaving the girl_ _as the men backed him into a corner._

_The scents coming off them were the same as the one coming off the woman, witches who even he had some reason to fear, especially when they were in numbers. The women remained behind the men, whispering to the child as it cried in her guardian's arms. His brain began concocting plans to get to the child and away from the witches so he could feed in peace._

_Sadly the witches were not going to wait for him to decide._

_A flash of light and a loud explosion was the only warning he got, as the building next to them burst into flames the witches made their exit. He cursed as was forced to flee before the humans saw him, silently vowing to find the child as make the witches pay for costing him so delicious a meal. _

Yes, it had taken him years to find the child again. The witches had hidden their young charge well. But they couldn't run forever and eventually he caught up to them, this time bringing Victoria along for a quick getaway with the child…

_He had entered the house, the scent of the child was coming from the upstairs and he followed eagerly. He could already imagine the blood running down his throat like hot creamy butter, while the heartbeat slowed and the look of terror would remain on the child's face forever. Victoria was waiting outside; there was no way the child could escape. He opened the door, fully expecting the child to be there asleep in the bed. _

_Instead it was that woman again._

_She was stood in the middle of the sitting room, dressed in blue again and looking at him with determined eyes. He quickly scanned the room; now that he was in it he realised the child's scent was days old. The woman was smiling as he turned on her, her eyes were sad but the determination was unmistakeable._

"_You won't find her here."_

_The fight only lasted a few minutes. The witch attacked him with fire and he retaliated, causing her to gain huge slashes all over her body spilling blood everywhere. She was a sorry state, her body was covered in her own blood and she was struggling to cast her magic. And still even as defeat stared her in the face she refused to give up the child._

_"You can go to Hell you fucking..."_

___The rest of her insult was lost when his rage got the better of him._

_He rushed at her, throwing her through a door and into the bedroom and pining her to the wall next to the bed by the throat. His rage at being outwitted by a witch and a child was fuelling his actions, and he laughed as the woman gasped for breath and weakly struggled to get away._

"_Give me the child, now witch!"_

"_You can't… have her…vampire…"_

_CRASH_

"_Bella, is she ok? Bella answer me!"_

"_NOOO!!!" _

_He growled loudly as he threw the witch onto the bed and ran out of the room, pausing only to survey the room and the struggling male witch before heading towards the window. The girl was there, but he couldn't get to her with the other witches chasing after him._

_Suddenly one of the males, the one being restrained before, was in front of him slashing a sword towards him. He ducked and cursed when the blade clipped his shoulder. Victoria came out of hiding then, stalling the male witch while he made his escape..._

After that he never got that close to her again. he took some consolation that at least two of her guardians were dead and that he now knew what she was called...

Bella

He had wandered for a hundred years trying to find the girl at one time he thought he had found her hiding in a mental home but he found something entirely different…a vampire and a young psychic patient named Mary Alice...

* * *

gotta run, english language is about to start and I can't be late again or the teacher will throw a book at me (again).

hope you enjoyed it!

Please review!


	14. Chapter 14

Hiya everyone!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed.

When I started to type this chapter, the initial idea didn't turn out the way I thought it would in my head. So I got rid of it, and this was the end result.

Hope you like it, if you want more of this kind of interaction between Edward and Bella just let me know.

Please give me more of your lovely feedback, it makes me really happy!

Skyla123

xxx

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners except those that belong to me.

* * *

Kissing a vampire was never an experience Bella expected to have. Basically for two very good reasons, one: the vampire clans she had met in the past hated the witches with a passion, and two: her brothers would have killed the vampire in question and confine her to her room for at least two centuries.

So when she and Edward finally made it back to the truck, you could say she was more then surprised when the thought flashed through her mind. Edward was studying her, the intensity of his gaze made her cheeks flush a bright pink as she waited for him to come back from wherever his mind had gone.

"Bella…"

"Yes?"

"I want to try something. Can you keep still for a moment?"

She nodded, curious as to where he was going with this. He was at her side in a flash, bracing her with his eyes as he leaned slowly in towards her neck. Her breathing hitched, the hairs on her skin detecting the coolness coming of his skin as he got closer. To a mortal his skin would be ice cold, like sticking their hand on an icicle. But to witches, their skin was warm like a normal human but cool to the touch.

Edward's nose skimmed the side of her throat, and Bella was finding it very hard to remember to stay still as he wanted her to. His nose glided across her throat, travelling from one side to the other slowly and leisurely before burying itself in the hair at the back of her neck.

"Ed…Edward…"

He pulled her closer, finally locking her in his arms. She could feel the power in them being restrained as he was holding her as gently as a feather. He continued to bury his face in her hair, taking deep breaths as he moved back to her throat. Bella's sensitive skin heightened the sensations he was causing on her neck, causing a shiver of pleasure to travel up her spine.

Then he kissed her neck.

The feel of his tongue on her skin sent flashes of heat all over her body, he continued to plant hot open kisses on her neck growing faster and bolder as he went. She moaned then, the sound coming from deep within her. This alone caused Edward to move further up her neck, a deep growl voicing his pleasure. He finally moved to her face, Bella closed her eyes at the bliss of it feeling his mouth and tongue on her, moving slowly towards her mouth. She pressed her body closer, almost without thinking. Her hips pressed themselves against his, causing an ache to appear that had been growing slowly from his ministrations. He planted a kiss in the corner of her mouth, and then he suddenly stopped. Bella groaned in disappointment and opened her eyes to look at him.

His eyes were dark pools of butterscotch; she could clearly see his desire and lust and was sure he could see the same in her own. He looked at her mouth, rubbing his thumb over her lips as if asking for permission. She kissed his thumb, rubbing her face into his hand silently giving him permission. He growled low and deep as he moved closer, his moth centimetres from her own…

_What does that boy think he's doing near __my__ prey?!"_

Both their heads snapped in the direction they had just come from. The moment was broken, Edward growled only this wasn't the same as the others he'd just made. This growl was of a predator, a seriously pissed off predator who wanted nothing more then to rip something limb from limb for interrupting.

And Bella could hardly agree more.

* * *

Words could not describe how pissed off Edward was at that moment. He was centimetres away from fulfilling a century old fantasy, and something had to come and interrupt it. The memory of Bella's skin on his tongue fuelled that anger, he had finally found heaven and this bastard had dragged him back kicking and screaming. Well that's how the guy would be when Edward got his hands on him.

The mental voice was fading fast, realising it had been caught when it had heard Edward's furious and frustrated growl. He set off like a bullet, leaving Bella to follow in her own way as he knew she would. He came to the spot where the voice had been, and seconds later Bella appeared.

"Any sign of him?"

He shook his head, the voice whoever he was had disappeared. Hardly any tracks were left; it was if it had vanished into thin air. The wind picked up, moving their hair and blowing the remaining scent away. He was shaking with rage, who the hell was that and how DARE he think of Bella as prey!

He felt a hand rest on his arm, Bella's touch draining the anger from him just like Jasper when he was having a bad day.

"Carlisle will want to hear this, you going to tell him?"

He smiled grimly and nodded, feeling the death of the moment more profoundly now. She gave him a quick squeeze on the arm before leaving him to recover her truck.

He kicked the tree in front of him, the vibration making some of the higher branches snap off and land heavily beside him. He had been so close…

Bella had driven off shortly after, saying something about ringing Lulu for advice. Edward had ran home, his face a vision of pure melancholy as he went through the front door. Esme was sat at the table, arranging some of her roses in a vase when Edward had come in. She registered his face in less then a second before rushing to his side, just as Carlisle came out of his study door.

_Edward, what's wrong?_

He gave a weak smile, he could tell Esme wasn't convinced but he caught Carlisle's eye before she could press him any further. He was quick, giving them the edited version of what had happened. Esme was beside herself with worry and it had taken a while for them to calm her down, then the others had come rushing down demanding answers. Edward was grateful to sneak away while they all planned the search; he shut the door and threw himself on his couch.

Now he truly knew the definition of sexual frustration.

When they had got back to the truck, he was near breaking point. The afternoon had been like a dream, one he definitely didn't want to wake up from. He glanced over at her; she was still looking in the direction they came from with a small smile on her face. Then she had turned towards him, their eyes locked.

Edward couldn't take it anymore.

"Bella…"

"Yes?"

"I want to try something. Can you keep still for a moment?"

She had nodded, the next second he had been by her side and it still hadn't been fast enough. It took all his willpower to slow down, before he scared her or did something he'd really regret later. Hurting her was out of the question, even by complete accident. He gave her a warning look before leaning in slowly towards the creamy expanse of her neck.

Thus he entered heaven.

Her freesia-like scent was even more intoxicating up close, breathing it in deeply as he skimmed his nose along her throat. After indulging himself he buried is nose in her hair, the dark lock were as soft as her skin and smelled strongly of her especially on the back of her neck.

"Ed…Edward…"

He pulled her into his arms, wanting to feel more of her soft body next to his own. He was restraining himself, holding her as if she were made of porcelain. It took a lot of effort but it was worth it, Bella's body was up against his and he could feel the warmth and softness of her body warming the cold hardness of his own. Flashes of heat went up and down his body, warming it in a different way then Bella's body was. He finally understood why his family was simply content to hold one another; it was pure bliss to simply hold her in his arms.

He returned to her neck, breathing in her scent. His hyper sensitive skin was reacting to her nearness, enhancing all the contact her body was making to his. It was driving him crazy; he seriously considered forgetting his reservations and crush her closer to him. He knew witches were tough, but that was a risk he seriously didn't want to try with Bella.

Simply taking in her scent wasn't enough anymore, he had to know what her skin tasted like. So slowly and as gently as he could, be brought his lips to her neck and gently licked her skin.

It was intoxicating.

The earlier flashes of heat, travelling up and down his body suddenly got a lot hotter and faster. He couldn't get enough of her taste, his own personal brand of heroin. He planted hot wet kisses all over the expanse of her neck, gaining confidence as he went.

Then she moaned.

The sound went straight through him. The heat was blistering him from the inside, the sound of her moan making it so hot it was nearly unbearable. The sound travelled along his spine, the pleasure it caused making him move higher on her neck. He let out a deep growl of pleasure, his brain not registering any rational thought anymore. He simply registered the sounds her body was making and responded accordingly.

He moved to her face, tasting her skin and making her breath hitch. She unconsciously moved closer to his body, pressing against him firmly. His body registered this and the flames grew in intensity, especially when her hips unconsciously pressed into his own.

It was pure torture.

The heat flew south, heading to a part of his anatomy that was rapidly becoming highly sensitive. He had finally reached the corner of her mouth, trying to distract himself from the sensation she was unwittingly causing him to feel. When he finally planted a kiss in the corner of her mouth, her hips pressed against him so hard he had to pull away before his body responded against his will. She let out a sound that wasn't helping his current state of mind and locked eyes with him.

Her eyes were full of the same emotions as his; he moved his thumb gently across her lips. His eyes bored into hers, begging for permission and fearing rejection. His body was tingling with emotion and was silently begging her to let him fulfil a fantasy that had haunted his imagination for the last century.

She moved her face into his hand, her lips gently kissing his thumb as her eyes gave him her permission. The relief he felt was almost as potent as the flames she was invoking within him, his breathing picked up speed as he slowly leaned in towards her. He could feel her breath on his skin as he got closer to her mouth, noting her breathing was as erratic as his own causing him to let off a growl that came from deep within him. He was mere centimetres away, tingling with anticipation when the moment was ruined by a voice running through his head.

That voice…

If he ever found out the owner of that voice they would be very sorry when he did. He let out a frustrated groan, just remembering the sensations made his body react. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore; he got up and left the house.

* * *

Lulu had advised her to be cautious; she would be home as soon as possible. A new witch was going through the transformation, sadly something had gone wrong and Lulu had to stay till she got better or she died.

Bella threw herself on her bed, she'd tried calling her family but they were either out or too busy to talk. It was times like these she really missed Lenne; she always had time for a quick chat and a bit of useful advice…

TAP!

Bella jumped, the sound broke her out of her thoughts. She turned to the window, only to find Edward Cullen looking at her through the glass. The rain had turned from a light drizzle to a heavy downpour, and Edward was soaked from head to foot. She moved over to the window, throwing it open and pulling him inside.

"Are you mad? What were you doing out there?"

He shrugged, his eyes roaming over her bedroom. The rain water was still running down his face, disappearing into his now transparent shirt. Bella swallowed, trying to focus on his face rather then on his body.

"Well, don't move. You've made a big enough puddle on my carpet as it is."

He had the sense to look a little bit sheepish, looking down at the rapidly growing puddle on Bella's carpet. Bella grabbed a clean towel from her en-suite and helped him peel off his wet coat and shirt. She threw them on the floor, before throwing the towel on his head and forcing him to bend over while she rubbed his hair dry.

"What the hell were you doing outside my window Cullen?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I have no idea?"

She rubbed harder, gaining a few winces from under the towel.

"Oh really? So this habit of yours at turning up uninvited at my place is purely coincidental, am I right?"

"Basically"

She removed the towel; his hair was a mess after her administrations. She ran her fingers through it, marvelling at how soft it was. Her hand stilled a little when Edward stated growling, almost at the point of purring, he made an annoyed sound when she slowed down so she continued.

"There you go, all better."

His eyes were dark again, the look he was giving her made her feel like he was going to try and eat her. She threw the towel at him, distracting him and allowing her to breathe again normally.

"Dry yourself off; I'll go see what I can do with the shirt."

"You want my pants?"

The look on his face was mischievous as hell itself, she raised an eyebrow and pointed down at his jeans and shoes. The water evaporated instantly, leaving them as dry as they were when he left home.

He looked at her; the surprise on his face was genuine as he looked back at his clothes.

"By the way we have a 'no shoes in the house' policy, the shoes have to go."

Another finger point later, she left Edward minus his shoes grumbling under his breath about women and their rules.

She grabbed his clothes and went down to the drying room, the coat was going to have to drip dry while the shirt was in the dryer. She went back to her room and found him looking at the portraits on her far wall.

"Who are they?"

She stood next to him, focusing on the painting rather then the naked chest next to her. The portrait was of a woman with long light brown hair dressed in blue, with a little girl with dark hair and deep chocolate eyes in a white dress.

"That's my older sister Lenne and me in 1907."

"You have an older sister?"

"She wasn't my blood sister, but my sister none the less. I have five other sisters as well. Lenne was the one who helped me to understand how to read minds properly, without letting them overwhelm me."

Edward looked at her then, his eyes studying her face furiously.

"You can read minds?!"

"Yes, I can also see into the future just like Alice can."

His eyes grew even bigger; she could tell he was struggling to process the information. Then he frowned, his face showing his annoyance as he continued to stare at her.

"Is that why I can't hear you?"

"No, I've learned how to block my mind from outside influences…"

…_but I can lower it if you'd like?_

He jumped violently then, pure shock caused him to land on the floor. Bella crouched down looked at him in the eyes.

_You okay? Sorry if I scared you._

"Can you read mine?"

_Only if you want me to, I generally respect the privacy of others if I can help it._

He nodded, closing his eyes and leaning back down onto the carpet. She watched him for a second before honing in on his mental signal.

_Did it work?_

_Yes, I can hear you now…Hey Cullen! I heard that!_

_Sorry, I can't help it…_

_You will if you don't want to be running home bright pink!_

_Okay! I apologise Miss Swan for thinking __that__ about your anatomy…_

"Whatever Cullen"

He laughed and got up off the floor, the smile fading a little after she felt him try and read her mind again.

"Sorry Edward, it takes a lot of energy to lower the barrier…I'm exhausted…"

Then the world went black…

* * *

Edward caught her, scooping her up into his arms and cradling her against his chest. She was breathing normally and she didn't feel feverish against his skin, so he moved to put her to bed thankful she was already in her sleep wear. And maybe a little disappointed as well.

He placed her on the bed, pulling the covers over her and turned to move away when a hand grabbed his arm. He looked down at Bella; her eyes were half closed and focused on him.

"Stay…please…"

His heart clenched, the loneliness in her voice made him give her a gentle smile as he climbed on top of the covers. She put his arm around her middle and pressed her back into his chest, he hissed gently as she pressed up against him the sensation causing a repeat of previous events.

"Rest…Edward…you need…to…"

"I'm fine like this Bella."

"But…wouldn't you…like…to…?"

"Yes, but…"

He was cut off as the unfamiliar sensation of drowsiness hit him. Bella had turned over, her head on his chest with her hand over his silent heart. The contact had him growling softly, his eyelids becoming heavier as he fought to stay awake.

"Sleep…Edward…it's alright…"

He gave in, crushing her closer to his chest. His eyelids began to close, the effect of having Bella's soft body and scent so close lulling him to sleep.

* * *

_A lone figure watched from the shadows, a figure that would be instantly recognised by the girl lying asleep on the bed in her lover's arms._

"_He's coming"_

_She inclined her head away from the pair, facing the window where her lover watched the shadows outside._

"_How far?"_

"_He's nearing the boundary line. What shall we do, Lenne?"_

"_There is nothing we can do, that is the wolves territory. The best we can do is send them a warning."_

_Shuyin moved away from the window, his gaze resting on Bella's sleeping face._

"_Stay safe, little one."_

_He vanished, giving Lenne the space she needed to say goodbye. For a little while._

"_Stay close to each other. That is the only way I can see you all coming away from this…"_

_She laid her hand on Bella's head, just like she did when she was still a child. Bella shifted slightly, causing the boy to make a soft sound before pulling her closer to his body. Lenne smiled, moving her hand to rest on his arm._

"_Keep them safe, Edward. Bella and your sister will need you, before the end of all this."_

_He shifted slightly, she took this as an unconscious acknowledgement of her words. She faded away, leaving the two souls to rest in piece._

_And to cause a certain vampire a load of trouble with a soon-to-be pissed off wolf. _


	15. Chapter 15

Hey guys...

Sorry it took so long. I really had a hard time getting this typed up, what with all the stuff going on in my life lately. But I kept on at it and this was the end result, which to be honest was not what I expected to come out.

Anyway, hope you enjoy it and leave a review.

Skyla123 xXx

* * *

Lulu was not the kind of witch to believe in bad omens. But recent events were causing her to think again, and that made her uneasy. She sat in her study, surrounded by her books and the instruments of her craft and gazed out into the night. Bella and Edward were asleep upstairs, a regular event that had begun during her last absence from home. Lulu took comfort in the knowledge that she was not alone while she was away, but she knew that if her sons ever found out they would not share her sentiments. In fact she could imagine them all surrounding Edward and happily disemboweling him for going anywhere near Bella, let alone sleeping in the same bed as her.

Yes, her sons were very over protective of their little sister.

They had nearly flown out to Seattle when Bella had almost been hit by that truck, and poor Bella had spent the entire night telling each of her brothers in turn that she was okay. The break in had also gone down well with them, in fact she vividly remembered that it had taken the combined force of her older daughters to keep them from causing trouble. Lulu found it hard to fault them, even though they went over the top most of the time. But they had a point, the events were disturbing and their regularity was becoming a concern.

It was time to consult Carlisle.

Lulu had been reluctant to say anything, be it that the events were as random as they appeared. But Bella had confessed to her something that awakened her to a larger situation that was developing around them all. It was just before Edward had arrived for the night, and Lulu had been calmly translating some runes for a charm when Bella had entered her study.

_Lulu, can I talk to you?_

The fact she had not spoken aloud meant she was uneasy about something, since she would usually just say what ever was on her mind aloud. Lulu had laid down her pen and motioned for her to continue, the runes forgotten on the desk.

_Do you remember when Lenne would hear voices in her sleep? You know, the ones who told her danger was near by?_

Lulu knew that she did not like where the conversation was going, but nodded her head waiting for Bella to continue.

_I think… I'm getting them too._

* * *

According to Edward, Carlisle worked late on Tuesday nights. So as Lulu walked down the corridors of the hospital looking for Carlisle's office, she searched for him with her powers. Eventually she found him in the room of a young girl, taking the readings off the various machines she was linked up to. Lulu did not need to use her powers to realise the child was ill, the scent of death was faint in the room but present none the less. Lulu watched Carlisle mumble at impossible speeds as he went over everything he knew, trying to think of anything that could help the child. The sign of a true healer, and a kindred spirit.

"Carlisle?"

He turned then, finally acknowledging her presence. His face told of endless hours worrying over the child, and of frustration with his lack of finding a solution to the child's pain. A situation Lulu was painfully familiar with.

"Forgive me Lulu. I did not mean to ignore you."

"Nonsense, the child is more important then my presence being noticed. Would you like me to look at her?"

Carlisle had protested, stating it was his problem to solve and he could not impose on her. Lulu had to push him into the chair by the girl's bedside, stating that his body may not be tired but his mind was and therefore should take a break.

"Relax Carlisle, remember two heads are better then one."

"Indeed. I will be grateful for whatever you can give, so will Sarah and her parents."

Lulu turned to the child and calmly examined her, using her eyes and her powers to determine the state of the child inside and out. The child was more seriously ill then Lulu had fist thought, her immune system was failing and her lungs and heart were dangerously sluggish. She laid her hand over the child's heart, and her power made it return to its regular rhythm as she looked at how her body reacted. Almost at once the child begin to mumble and move weakly in the bed, sweat poring from her in great waves and soaking the bed.

"Lulu?"

"Get some new sheets and clothes, and an immersion bath may be a good idea as well. Something tells me this may only be the beginning."

Carlisle disappeared with his errand, and Lulu pulled back the soaked sheets. Then she spotted the sores. She bent down for a closer look, noticing the freshness of the marks and their faint odour of decay.

"What are you doing?"

Lulu sighed and turned to the furious nurse in the doorway, calmly looking at her before returning to the child's sores.

"You had better leave before I call-"

Lulu stood up and gave the woman her full attention, deciding to calm the situation before it caused any discomfort to the poor child.

"My name is Lulu Besaid. I'm a doctor from California State Medical school, Dr Cullen asked me to come and assist him with diagnosing this child's illness."

It was the truth mixed with a grain of deception, Lulu had taught at California State Medical school. Back in the late sixties of course. The nurse went from red to an off cream colour, but she still managed to ask for some I.D which Lulu conjured up in a heart beat. The nurse left nearly bumping into Carlisle and his team of porters bringing in the bath and clothes. Carlisle waited for them to be out of earshot before he addressed her again.

"Bella never mentioned you were a doctor."

"No she wouldn't have. Bella likes people to tell their own story, and she likes to do the same with her own."

Carlisle turned away as Lulu changed the child into a hospital gown, throwing the sweat soaked pink pyjamas into the basket for the nurses to take away later.

"I see. But how did you get a position there?"

Lulu explained as they put Sarah into the bath how she had helped to found it, thus gaining her a place there masquerading as her own descendent. The child sighed as she was lowered into the cool water, which was a step in the right direction.

"Something is causing her immune system to fail, also her heart and lungs are becoming sluggish. I'm keeping them going but it won't last forever, even with my talents. Also have a look at her legs, these sores are new aren't they?"

Carlisle immediately took samples from them and took them to the lab down the corridor, Lulu made Sarah as comfortable as she could and joined him. As they waited for the results, Carlisle reminded her that she had come here for another reason. Lulu had become so caught up in helping Sarah that her uneasiness had flown away to the back of her mind, reminding her of why she missed practicing medicine so much.

"Its about Bella. She came to me tonight saying she as heard voices in her dreams, the same as my eldest daughter used to when danger was close by."

That caught Carlisle's attention, his focus temporarily shifting from Sarah to what the implications were for his family.

"What do the voices say?"

"We are not sure. All she could make out was the names of Alice, herself and the phrase 'Prepare to die'. Something is happening all around us Carlisle, and we have been completely oblivious to it."

The computer screen blinked with the results of the analysis, but neither of them looked at the screen as Carlisle went over what Lulu had just said.

"I see. Have you any ideas of what may be happening?"

"Yes, but it makes me uneasy to even think about it."

Lulu could see Carlisle was waiting for her to continue, but she was reluctant to put her suspicions into words. Eventually she gave herself a mental shake and voiced her conclusion.

"The children are in danger Carlisle, someone or something is hunting them and I don't know why."

Carlisle's eyes flashed. The thought of his family in danger was the only thing that could make a man like him get angry, but the fact he had been oblivious to it made it all the more painful for him to accept. Lulu could understand exactly how he was feeling, and she knew where they would lead him if something happened to his children.

_Lenne…Shuyin…_

* * *

Carlisle was angry. No, angry did not even begin to describe how he felt. It was as if all the missing pieces were finally coming together, and the picture was not a pretty one. In the three centuries he had been alive he had never lost his temper once and yet now, in a room filled with expensive and vital equipment, he felt the urge to rip the lab apart till nothing but broken implements remained.

"Just as I thought…"

Carlisle barely registered Lulu's voice, he was too busy trying to calm himself down. It wasn't till Lulu thrust the test results in his field of vision that Carlisle began to calm down, as the reality of them began to sink in.

"Look at this…how on earth did it get so bad?"

Lulu waited for him to respond. Carlisle went through Sarah's history in his head, running through all the notes that had been sent to him by her original doctor.

"He missed it, I don't know how but he missed it. But at this level of her development, we would be risking her life if we tried to-"

"I think its best if we get her parents here. Given the advancement in the last twelve hours, we can't afford to wait Carlisle."

He nodded. Lulu left the lab heading in the direction of Sarah's room, while Carlisle went to his office to call the poor unsuspecting parents waiting at home.

After the uncomfortable conversation with her parents, who assured him they would be there within the next half an hour, he returned to Sarah's room. He opened the door to find Lulu immersing the child in the water bath again, her face was flushed and he could see that the fever was causing her to struggle with her breathing. Wordlessly, he grabbed an oxygen mask and slipped it over the child's face. The look of relief on the child's face as the water and the mask worked their magic was priceless, and gave him hope that she may just pull through.

"They will be here in about thirty minutes."

"Good."

Lulu was concentrating on keeping the child's face above the waterline, allowing the rest of her head to be submerged in the cool water. Carlisle noticed that something else was floating in the water with her, and caught the scent of herbs coming from the water.

"Camomile for the headache, Sage for the sore muscles, Rosemary for cleansing the sores and her skin and Lavender for the fever and its soothing smell."

Carlisle looked up to see Lulu's amused face smiling at him.

"How did you-"

"Your face. It was frowning when you smelled the herbs. I'm surprised, I thought you of all people would remember that herbs are just as effective as modern medicine. If you know what you are doing that is."

Carlisle held up his hands in defeat.

"I apologise, I will remember next time."

"Quite right. Now lets get her back into some dry clothes and her bed…"

* * *

It was three in the morning when Sarah went in for her surgery. Carlisle had surrendered her to a surgeon he trusted, and it was left to him and Lulu to explain the condition Sarah was in and the procedure that may or may not save her life.

Her parents had consented without hesitation.

Now all that was left was to wait. Carlisle had opened his office and Lulu had sank into the couch gratefully. Carlisle was sat in this chair with a melancholy look on his face, and Lulu could guess what was on his mind.

"What's done is done, Carlisle. All we can focus on now is saving our children from what ever is heading our way."

"But how did it come to this? How could we not notice Lulu?"

"He is a smart one Carlisle. He knows what he is up against and it excites him."

"He?"

Lulu sighed. She stood up and went to the window, looking out on to the woods and mountains. Carlisle, like the gentleman he was, waited for her to continue as the moon slowly began her decent in the darkness.

"When Bella was a child, she attracted the attention of a vampire. His name was James. One day when Lenne, my eldest daughter, was taking her home to her mother, James somehow caught her scent. My children managed to get her away, but James continued to peruse us for two years before finally things came to a head."

Lulu nearly choked on her grief and anger. She mentally shook herself and continued.

"James managed to track us back to our home. Lenne decided that enough was enough, so she sent us all away so that she could deal with him alone. It wasn't till we were too far away to help her that we realised what she had done. We rushed back, but we were too late. I lost a daughter and a son that day, and I refuse to lose another to him."

She heard Carlisle rise from his chair and felt him put a hand on her shoulder.

"I am sorry."

Lulu accepted the handkerchief he offered her. The tears had come like she knew they always did, and she vigorously wiped them away.

"We won't let that happen."

Both Carlisle and Lulu turned to the voice coming from the doorway. Esme was stood in the doorway with a look of determination on her face. Carlisle went and greeted her, kissing her softly on the mouth before bringing her into the office. She went to Lulu, wrapping her in a comforting hug.

"We won't lose them. We are their parents, we won't allow it to end this way."

It was a rare thing that witches and vampires could agree on something entirely. But as Lulu had learned over time, the Cullen's were not like other vampires. She knew that they were good souls, who tried to live as humanely as possible unlike most of their brethren. And another thing was also beyond all doubt: Edward and his siblings would never let anything hurt Bella.

Lulu gave Esme a squeeze back, silently thanking her friend for her support.

"Yes, we won't."

A knock on the door brought the moment to an end. A nurse came in looking flustered, and gave them the news that Sarah was out of theatre. Carlisle filled Esme in as they made their way to the child's room, giving Lulu a chance to study the child's post-op chart. All the signs were good. She passed the board to Carlisle who scanned the sheets with renewed optimism.

As Carlisle talked to the ashen faced parents, Lulu and Esme looked in on the child. Her face was calm and her breathing was good, the slight scent of blood made Esme pause for a moment before going over and sitting next to the child. Sarah had been close to death mere hours before, and now she stood a chance at making a full recovery. Lulu smiled.

_Our goddess sure likes her ironies…_

"What are you smiling about?"

"Esme…do you believe in omens?"


	16. A Moment in Time: Edward

Hey guys sorry for the delay in posting the next chapter, Uni has seriously messed up my timings again. I'm uploading a few one-shots to tide you over till I finish Chptr 16, which will hopfully be sometime soon!

Luv

Skyla123 xxx

* * *

Edward was day dreaming.

Bella was lying on a bed of grass; her arms around his neck and she was kissing him gently. Edward had his hands under her blouse, running his hands up and down the flawless skin of her stomach. The kiss deepened, and Edward's hands became bolder as he slowly went higher. Bella's arms went down his body, slipping under his shirt to stroke his back and stomach leaving a trail of fire in her wake.

Edward's hands finally brushed the softness of her breasts. Bella's breath hitched as he softly caressed her breasts, his touch as light as a butterfly. He barely noticed her hands drifting lower and lower, and then it was Edward's breath that hitched as she wrapped her delicate fingers around his aching length.

Their kiss changed from a gentle, innocent caress to a passionate, lustful embrace. Hands roamed openly over skin, and Edward was in heaven. Never again would he criticise Emmett and Rosalie when they made too much noise at night. Bella was making maddening noises with her mouth, and she was driving him mad with her touches all over his now feverish skin.

He broke the kiss and gazed down at her. She was flushed from the kiss, her lips were bruised and her hands were still exploring his chest as her eyes stared deeply into his. Edward leaned down, eyes drifting closed as he went to kiss her lips once more. Their breaths mingled and just as their lips were about to touch, a loud explosion shook the floorboards.

Smoke detectors were blaring from downstairs, and Edward could hear Esme apologising to Rosalie as the unmistakable sound of a fire extinguisher being used was just detectable under all the noise. He picked himself off the floor, and laid back down on his couch groaning as he was once again foiled in his attempt to kiss Bella.

_The flames came from nowhere; I followed the instructions to the letter. Oh, Carlisle will have to order a new kitchen now. It's all my fault..._

Edward knew he should go downstairs and comfort his mother, but he couldn't quite work up the energy to be around his family just yet. That and the fact he was sulking like a teenager because he was missing Bella like crazy. The physical ache he felt by her absence made him shift on the couch, his body buzzing with the need to be near her.

_Esme, why do you still persist in learning how to cook? I swear one day we will come home, and the house will be nothing more than a pile of ashes!_

Emmett had entered the kitchen, and had been enlisted in stripping the burnt appliances from the walls. He was grumbling about the only one doing all the work, and where on earth was Jasper to lend him a hand. The said Jasper was out buying a whole new wardrobe, after Alice had donated his last batch of clothes to the local charity shop. Jasper was literally left with the clothes on his back, and an animated Alice dragging him to Seattle and beyond.

Edward smirked.

_Better him than me..._


	17. Chapter 16

Where do I even begin...

Life has been a struggle these last few months, and as a result the updates for this story have suffered. I apologise for keeping you waiting, and I hope this was worth the wait.

AN: Italics are thoughts/visions.

* * *

Alice hated inconsistency. Humans were constantly changing their minds, thus changing a line of events back and forth until she would almost scream in frustration. But it was not humans that were the cause of Alice's current frustration. No these were far more dangerous creatures, and she knew that whatever they finally decided to do would be focused around her and Bella.

_Where are you? What are you planning?_

She closed her eyes, allowing her mind to enter the confusion of time and space. Flashes of green fields would suddenly change to a huddle of small buildings and back again. But one thing was constant, these vampires were out for blood. Bella's blood…

"Alice?"

Jasper's southern drawl came floating into her consciousness, bringing her slowly back to reality. She opened her eyes to find him in the doorway of their room, waiting for her permission to come in. A perfect southern gentleman, in every single way. She held out her hand to him, and laced her fingers with his own when he finally came into the room.

Words were never used much in their relationship. Alice was a firm believer that actions spoke louder then words, and holding hands like they were was all she needed to know what her husband felt. His ability was a two way street, what he felt she did too. And right now all she could feel was his love and concern for her.

"They keep changing their plans."

"They?"

She nodded. She could see the calculations going through his mind, the soldier in him returning to the surface once again. Flashes of what he had planned came to her, and she smirked when the same scenario kept cropping up over and over again.

"You can quit with the gallantry, Jasper. I can look after myself remember?"

He looked at her before giving her one of his smiles, and as usual she found it hard to stay annoyed at him.

"Yes ma'am."

Those two small words always reminded her of the day she finally found him, and of how grateful she was to have him. With him she could let down the 'Alice' mask she wore everyday, and she could rant, scream and cry to her hearts' content. He would hold her and let her be herself, before making her feel safe and loved again in his arms.

Suddenly his face disappeared from her sight. Alice looked around, and began to feel a slight panic begin to well up inside of her. This grew and grew as time went on and Jasper was no where to be found. She started to run, calling out his name. Her foot caught on something and she fell to the ground, Alice shook her head and looked back at what she had tripped over.

She froze.

A small female figure was lying on the ground, face down and was utterly still. A pool was forming around her head, a crimson pool that was staining her clothes and running into her hair. Alice could only look on as a figure approached, who bent down and picked her up. The figure threw the female towards her, Alice watched her fall towards her and tried to catch her but her arms were frozen in place. The figure landed heavily at her feet, her face turning towards Alice's terrified form.

Her own lifeless eyes stared back at her.

Alice screamed. She couldn't stop herself, she kept on screaming and screaming till the figure grabbed her by the throat and choked her scream away. It wasn't till she reached out to grab is arms that she realised something was off about her body. It was not her arms that were franticly trying to get his hands away from her throat. It was not her body that was twisting to and fro in a desperate attempt for freedom, and it certainly was not her heart making those frantic beats within her chest.

A flash appeared before her eyes, near blinding her since some unexplained force was keeping her eyes locked open. When the coloured lights finally cleared from her vision, she realised she was no longer being choked. She had moved from her previous host and had returned to her lifeless body lying on the floor. Her position gave a clear view of who it was in that man's lethal grip, struggling to free herself from his clutches.

It was Bella.

_"I've found you…"_

Alice looked at the figure, but his features were obscured by the darkness. He leaned in close, and whispered into Bella's ear. He uttered only one syllable, but it caused both Bella and Alice to gain a look of complete horror. He opened his mouth and bent his head down to Bella's throat.

_"Mine."_

And he bit her neck.

"ALICE!"

Her eyes snapped open. Jasper was hovering over her, pinning her body to the bed. His face was full of concern and fear, all for her. If she was able to she would have had tears in her eyes at the sight. She had frightened him. Again.

"You okay?"

Her face crumpled. Jasper wrapped his arms around her as she buried her face into his chest, sobbing and shaking with fear. He held her tighter, making sure she knew he was here and that he wasn't going anywhere. Words were not necessary.

Alice had never been so thankful that her family were all out for the night. If they had seen her like this, not only would it cause them all to worry but Emmett and Edward would never let her live it down! Eventually she stopped crying, but the shaking would not stop. Jasper was worried, she could feel it seeping from his skin. Eventually he came up with a solution.

Alice nearly jumped when Jasper brushed his lips against hers. At first she was to shaken to respond, but eventually she started to move her lips along with his. She felt him smile against her lips before he slid his tongue in her mouth. Her hands buried themselves in his hair as their tongues' danced between their mouths, a moan coming from deep within her. Jasper growled and brought her further under him, pinning her with his body.

Alice finally broke away, leaning back on the bed and looked up at her husband. His eyes were dark, and the hunger in them was making her shiver with pleasure. But she knew that she had to tell him what she saw.

"Bella was bitten."

Jasper's eyes flickered for a second, before motioning for her to continue.

"There was a vampire, I don't know who he was but he…I…"

Alice shook her head and looked at Jasper, his ability giving her the reassurance she needed from him to continue.

"He killed me first."

Jasper's reaction was swift.

With a loud feral snarl he pushed her further underneath him, till his body caged her own in its protective embrace. He kissed her, hard. If they had been human, he would have bruised her lips with the force of his kiss. His tongue was hot and demanding, fuelled from his anger and all Alice could do was let him do what he wanted.

"I'll kill him."

The sudden sound of his voice made Alice open her eyes. He was looking down at her, anger and determination flowed from him like a river. It was times like this that reminded her of what he used to be, wild and dangerous. In recent years he had calmed down, barely going beyond the playful fights he shared with his brothers. But when she was in danger, his old self would reappear in an instant to protect her.

"I swear to you Alice, I'll kill him before he gets anywhere near you!"

Alice could feel the urge to cry building up again. She buried her face in his shoulder, taking in deep breaths of his scent and listening to the rhythm of his breathing. He wrapped his arms around her in a vice like grip, and she knew he was looking around to make sure they were alone and secure. Jasper was not the cold hearted killer many of their kind made him out to be, at least not entirely. He had chosen to give up that life, long before he had met her, and struggled each day to control his urges around humans. But when he was alone, away from temptation and his family, the real Jasper was completely different. It was a glimpse of the man he once was as a human, and he only showed it to Alice in times like this.

"Will you tell Edward?"

His voice was still raw from his passionate outburst, the worry leaking out from behind his fractured façade. Poor Edward. How on earth was she going to tell him?

"I'm afraid of what will happen if I do…"

"But?"

"But, I'm more afraid of what will happen if I don't tell him. You know how he feels about her, and I've seen enough to know what he'd be capable of if something happened to either of us."

She went over the different scenarios her choices would create, and in each one someone she loved was either hurt or killed. She must have made some noise of despair, because Jasper started to stroke her short hair and tighten his hold.

_What should I do?_

* * *

Bella sighed.

No matter what she did to her hair, it would simply not obey her. She pulled the last pin from her latest failure, and began brushing the hairspray out. In a way, her hair reminded her of her foresight ability. It would simply do as it pleased, and when she tried to focus on using it nothing would happen.

In the end she gave up, putting her hair in a ponytail. Bella looked over her outfit once more, before grabbing a baseball cap and donning it before leaving the room. Lulu was in her room, staring quietly out of her window, a habit she had developed ever since Bella had confessed her dreams to her. Lulu knew the repercussions of such dreams, it had cost her both a son and a daughter.

"Lulu, I'm going now."

The witch barely nodded her head in response, her thoughts somewhere far away.

"Esme said you were welcome to-"

"No, I am sure. Send her my apologies."

Bella left the room after that, making her way to her truck. She jumped in and started the engine, and she was about to pull away when a vision of Edward joining her came from nowhere. She paused, and sure enough Edward came into view in front of her. She motioned towards the seat next to her, and he quickly joined her in the cab.

"You saw me coming, didn't you?"

Bella smiled as they pulled away towards his house, taking the roads at a leisurely pace. Bella could see the pace was annoying him, but he kept quiet as he explained the directions to the baseball field.

"How is Carlisle? I heard Lulu had to help him on a case?"

"He is fine. The girl made it, your mother saved the day according to him. Turn here."

Bella turned into the overgrown track, her eyes open for any unsuspecting deer about to dive in front of the truck.

"Has he-"

Emmett came out of no where into the track, cutting Bella off mid sentence as she slammed the break pedal to the floor. The truck came to a squealing halt centimetres from Emmett's body, causing him to look like an overgrown deer in her headlights. Bella started to laugh, but Edward failed to see the humour as he got out of the cab .

"Sorry won't cut it Emmett! You nearly caused Bella to have a accident, you stupid bas-"

"Bella! You okay?"

Alice's voice drowned out Edward's furious rant as she approached the driver side door. Bella nodded, more concerned about Emmett's well being then her own. Alice jumped into the cab and closed the door, sitting next to Bella as the two brothers argued.

"Edward, I said I will apologise! What more do you want me to do? Beg on my knees for her forgiveness?"

"That would be a start!"

Bella snapped.

The pair suddenly found themselves hanging from a nearby tree by their ankles, as the tuck started to drive off with Alice laughing her head off inside the cab. They yelled after the truck, but Bella ignored them as she continued on to the field.

"You okay, Bella?"

"Yes, I am now. Honestly! Those two really should learn not to-"

They arrived at the field, parking next to the 4x4 which going by the colour scheme belonged to Alice. The windswept field was perfect for baseball, and due to the remote location it was a perfect place for the vampires to let loose and enjoy themselves. The incoming storm, provided by Bella and Lulu at the request of Esme, was the perfect cover for the noise that the game would create.

Carlisle was stood at home base, setting up the plate while Jasper set up the others. Esme came over and greeted Bella, who watched Alice make a bee line for Rosalie in the other truck.

"Where on earth is Edward? He told me he was bringing you here himself…"

"Oh, he did. He's just a bit busy with Emmett at the moment."

Bella could hear Alice laughing mentally as she fought not to grin, which caused Rosalie to stare at her like she had grown another head.

"I see, well I'm sure they will be here any moment. The game is about to begin after all…"

Esme walked off, and Bella headed over to Rosalie's truck. A glare sent her direction informed her that Alice had already told her what had happened, and she was none to pleased about it.

"Was it really necessary to hang my husband from a tree?"

"It did at the time, but you are right it was a stupid thing to do and I apologise."

Rosalie huffed and mentally sent her acceptance of the apology.

_Can you please release my husband now? Esme will begin to worry otherwise…_

She was right, so Bella cast her sight back to the two bickering vampires who were struggling to free themselves from her power. They were still going at it even as they struggled, so Bella dropped them both on their heads. She felt the disorientation it caused them both, which they struggled through as they raced to the field.

"They're on their way now, and they should emerge over there in ten seconds."

And sure enough two dirty and slightly dazed vampires emerged from the gloom, both sending filthy looks at each other as they approached. Alice had lost her private battle, and was rolling on the ground laughing hysterically. Rosalie's lips twitched at the sight of her husband, amusement shining in her eyes as she went to fuss over him.

Edward just stared at Bella, embarrassment and hurt flashing across his mind. She walked over to him and hugged him, opening her mind briefly to him so he could sense her remorse for her actions.

_I'm sorry…_

_I know you are, but that doesn't change the fact that my virgin ears are now soiled by Emmett's foul mouth…._

Bella chuckled at that, closing the link before she used up too much of her energy. She could feel Edward's brief flash of sorrow that it was gone, before he smothered it and guided her to the others who were eager to begin.

A brief snap of her fingers later, the whole area was covered with densely packed thunder clouds that promised a huge storm. Lightning flashed and the rain began to fall on Forks, sending the population diving into their homes for shelter. Alice was jumping around like a hyper little school girl, waiting for Carlisle to start the game. He picked up a bat, and took his position as everyone else dived for theirs. He gave Alice the nod.

"Play ball!"

* * *

_The scent of the vegetarians grew stronger as they approached the field, but his attention was on the scents of the two mouth-watering females who were oblivious to his presence. They were playing baseball in the shadow of the thunderstorm, which made them careless and oblivious to the surrounding area._

_Laurent was sceptical of making such a move in the presence of such a large clan, but followed his will as normal by taking his role as the speaker of the trio. Victoria was eager for the kill, and the promise of his attentions once both the females were dead. _

_Soon his two beauties would be under his power once more, and their sirens blood and shapely bodies at his disposal. His fangs sharpened with longing and desire._

_Just a few more miles…_

* * *

The feeling struck both Alice and Bella in the middle of the game.

Bella had just picked up the bat and was waiting for Emmett to throw the pitch when the vision completely took over her senses. Alice was there waiting for her as they watched the three figures change direction and approach their location. Two of the figures were slightly familiar, but their was no mistaking the third figure.

"James…"

The pair of them looked at each other in shock, for neither had expected the other to utter the monster's name at the same time. Alice managed to find her voice first.

"You know him?"

"He was the vampire that murdered my brother and sister, back when I was still mortal. You?"

"He found me in the asylum, nearly killed me. The doctor had to turn me to save my life, at least that is what the visions tell me."

James was approaching fast, and Bella was becoming more and more frightened as she tuned in to his depraved mind. Alice must have sensed the direction his thoughts were taking, because her hand shot out to hold Bella's in a vice-like grip.

"Bella, we have to go. Edward and Jasper will get hurt if we stay."

"I know. But we have to warn them, Victoria is spoiling for a fight , and James is in the mood to indulge her."

"Right, oh and don't forget to duck."

Bella re- entered the present and ducked just in time. The pitch streaked over her head and flew into the trees, much to the confusion of the fellow players. To further confuse them, Alice abandoned her position on third base and stood next to Bella reaching for her hand once more.

"We have a problem."

Those four words changed the entire atmosphere. The game was abandoned as the family rushed to their side, drilling Bella for information about what she meant by problem. Alice was furiously checking scenarios in her head, which Bella blocked from Edward's mind since he was already sensing the three intruders approaching. Bella opened her mind to Alice briefly.

_Anything?_

_Yes…but somehow we have to lose Edward and Jasper in the airport…and they are going to make that _very_ difficult. Overprotective idiots…_

_Leave that to me Alice, just get ready to act like a pathetic weakling. James will buy that lock, stock and barrel. And then he will be putty in our hands…_

_The poor bastard has no idea what he's letting himself in for. I feel almost sorry for him, Bella…_

_Shush! Or I'll burst out laughing…_

"How did this happen? Alice didn't see anything when she checked this afternoon."

Alice stifled the giggles in her head as Bella closed the link, already feeling the first signs of exhaustion settle on her body. A fact she prayed Edward would not notice, or the game would be over before it even began. Jasper did have a valid point, something had changed since that afternoon and it had escaped both the girls' notice.

"I'm sorry. They changed direction suddenly, I thought they were going to pass on by. The game must have attracted their attention…"

Alice's voice had begun to change to the pathetic tone she had practiced in her mind, but the flaw was that Jasper was now on the alert and staying close to his petite wife much to her annoyance.

"Its him, isn't it Bella? The one from the meadow."

Edward was close to her, she could feel his presence right behind her. How much he had already guessed was surprisingly accurate, but she expected nothing less from him.

"Yes, that's him."

His anger silently filled the air and he shifted positions to stand along with Jasper in front of her and Alice, as if to shield them from being detected. All attention was suddenly shifted to the tree line, where three predatory figures emerged from the mist.


	18. Chapter 17

Finally found the time to type this chapter up after having it in my notebook for over a month, now I just need to find the time to type the other ones in-between writing my journals for Uni. (puts head on desk and rolls it around)

Some reviews would really cheer me up...please tell me what you think good/bad.

AN: Italics are thoughts/visions.

* * *

Edward had to stay calm.

The trio emerged from the tree line, the long forgotten baseball in the hand of the dark skinned one. Their minds were turbulent, the female was calculating escape routes as the light skinned male gave off waves of hunger and lust as his eyes focused on Bella and Alice. Jasper was growling in his mind, his soldier instincts re-awakening as he calculated the threat the enemy posed to him and the girls. A stray thought from the dark skinned one Laurent, caught his attention as they stopped a few feat away:

_I hope these girls are worth the risk._

Carlisle stepped forward and greeted the new comers.

"Greetings, my name is Carlisle. This is my wife Esme, and these are my children: Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, Edward and Bella."

Edward shielded Bella from the other male's view as his gaze flickered between her and Alice, his eyes darkening with hunger as the moments passed. Emmett moved into position in front of Rosalie and Esme, making a line with Jasper and Edward between the new comers and the women.

Laurent stepped forward and quickly introduced the clan.

"I thank you for the welcome, my name is Laurent. And these are my clansmen James and Victoria, forgive us but the sound of your game attracted us as we passed by."

Bella laid a hand on his back, clutching the material like a lifeline as she shifted closer to him. He moved his hand back to grasp the hand on his back, squeezing it in comfort and reassurance to both Bella and himself as Carlisle exchanged pleasantries with Laurent.

_No one will touch you, I swear it._

* * *

Bella had to focus on the present, no matter how much the past called to her like a siren's song. There was more then her own life at stake, Alice was tough but she could not read minds or teleport away if things got out of hand. And as for herself she was not as strong as Alice unless she cast a complicated and time consuming spell, that and her gift of premonitions was unreliable at the best of times. Sometimes it worked when other times it stubbornly refused to give her any insight into what was about to happen, which infuriated her to the point where objects were sent flying across rooms to shatter satisfactorily against the wall.

It was at times like this that she dearly wished that Lenne was still alive, she could have taught her how to control her new power…but then again if she had not died Bella would probably never have inherited it in the first place. She had spent decades fantasising what life would have been like if her siblings had not died, until she had woken up one day and decided enough was enough. It was an understatement to say her remaining siblings were glad she had stopped isolating herself from them, eagerly embracing her back into the fold of sibling rivalry and companionship as if she had never left it.

Bella wished they were with her, because the situation was deteriorating just as she and Alice had foreseen.

Carlisle had the situation under control at the moment, but both Edward and Jasper were itching to get the strangers away from them or rip them limb from limb, they were beyond caring at that point. Emmet was also spoiling for a fight, eager to rip the interrupting clan to pieces for ruining his game and threatening his family, of which he included Bella. If the situation was not so serious she would have given him a hug in gratitude, fully willing to risk her brother's wrath if they ever found out she had become a little sister to a vampire.

_I hope you have a decent pair of running shoes, Emmett!_

The wind swept past in an icy blast, sending Bella and Alice's scents in James's direction. He breathed in deeply, his eyes flashing as he made his move.

"Ah, you brought a snack."

* * *

Edward growled openly, crouching into a stance in front of Bella as Jasper moved beside him and took a similar position. Emmett had their backs as they focused on James, who was openly staring at Alice and Bella with venom spilling from his lips and running down his chin. The sight of the vile liquid was making Edward mad, just the thought of that vile substance running in Bella's veins made him growl even louder. The vampire completely ignored him and Jasper as if they were not even worthy of his notice as he focused on the girls, licking his venom covered lips as he spoke.

"I have been hunting for over a hundred years for you, Bella. Your coven can not help you now, little witch."

Alice went to Bella and Edward watched out the corner of his eye as she laid a reassuring hand on Bella's arm, her back to James as she whispered comfort to the trembling witch. Edward snarled loudly at James, who finally acknowledged his presence by hissing at him. The female Victoria made a stance and growled at him for threatening her mate, to which Jasper made a snarl of his own as James's gaze landed on his wife.

"Mary Alice, well this is an unexpected bonus. Two snacks in one day…how fortunate this is."

"If you want her, you'll have to go through me first!"

Jasper had stepped forward, challenging the other vampire to try and take Alice from him. Edward briefly read his mind, the clear murderous intent he had towards the enemy screaming from every corner of his usually quiet mind.

_No one threatens my Alice, and lives to see the next twilight!_

Carlisle was also growling at Laurent, who had remained quiet after the initial outburst between the two clans. He clearly wanted no part in James's hunt, but he was reluctant to leave the field or else face James's displeasure at a later date for deserting him. James was a master hunter, his gift was finding targets when even other vampires would have difficulty locating them. Victoria it seemed had the gift of escaping from bad situations, which was useful to James when he found a difficult target and was the reason he had her around.

_That could be useful…_

"Come now, Edward. Its rude not to share…"

* * *

_Tosser._

Bella had to restrain a grin, Alice was itching to go over and punch him in the face but she had to stay put and play out her 'pathetic victim' role. She acted flawlessly, gasping and hugging Bella as they pretended to step back in fear. She focused on projecting false thoughts and feelings of fear to the two growling boys who took an intimidating step towards James and his clan.

_Over protective much, right Bella?_

Bella smirked and briefly opened her mind to Alice.

_Yeah, stupid masochistic men. Its like they have forgotten that I am a witch, I could smite James with my little finger if I felt like it!_

Alice laughed in her mind.

_I'd pay money to see that!_

Bella cut the connection with a mental chuckle, she was glad Alice was able to find the time to crack jokes with all the gazing into the future she was doing. The flashes were becoming regular, up to the point where they could both clearly see what they had to do to get their plan in motion.

Edward and Jasper were the wild cards that had to be considered carefully, since they were both likely to do something stupid that would put their lives in danger, which would force Alice and Bella to break cover and save their ungrateful hides.

No, they needed two more players to complete the plan.

Both girls looked over at Esme and Rosalie, who looked back in confusion as they both grinned at them. They moved closer to the pair, as if huddling together for protection when Bella was opening their minds to her and Alice to recruit them for their plan. Alice explained the finer points of the plan while Bella maintained the illusion she was projecting to Edward and Jasper, who thankfully were too busy being angry at James and his clan to fully pay attention to the girls.

_You can't be serious, Alice! _

_Rosalie, I am serious because the situation is serious. If we don't lead James away from them, they will die and so will Emmett and Carlisle. _

_Bella dear, is there no other way to do this?_

_No Esme, Alice and I have been looking at this scenario from every conceivable angle. This is the only way everyone comes out of this alive, give or take a few bruised male egos._

Rosalie shook her head, still not convinced. Alice showed her a few of the visions which showed Emmett dying protecting her from James, including a few where Bella and Alice were drained by James and left for dead while the vampire venom killed Bella instead of transforming her into a vampire.

_How do you not-_

_Vampire venom is poisonous to witches, Rosalie. It competes with our Wicca powers and the mystic backlash is too strong for our bodies to handle which results in our death._

_I see. Well if it saves Emmett and you two from dying at that bastard's hand, you can count me in._

_I'm in too, no one messes with my children and gets away with it!_

The four women turned to face the enemy, Bella did not bother to hide the smirk on her face as Laurent and Victoria caught sight of them together.

_Here we go ladies, time for some payback._

* * *

"One more step and I'll rip you apart, you bastard."

Edward meant every word as his blood boiled, he could sense Bella's fear from Jasper's mind who was barely hanging on by a thread from charging at James, but daren't leave Alice open to attack while he did so.

The suddenly the whole atmosphere changed.

The fear from Bella and Alice disappeared, and Alice's fearful thoughts disappeared as well. Instead her thoughts were calculating, but he found he could hardly understand them like he normally could. It was the cold brush of magic he felt in her mind that gave away the culprit for the sudden change.

Bella was up to something.

"Really Edward, why should you have all the fun?"

The boys turned their heads in the direction of Bella's voice to find all the girls stood with Esme, all of them were smirking at some private joke at their expense which made James lose his confidence for a brief moment.

"Seriously James, you really think that we are afraid of you? A paedophile who can't even catch two little girls?"

"You know something Bella? I think he needs a reminder of who he's dealing with, don't you?"

Bella smirked, an evil look entering her expression as she raised her hand towards James. Sparks of magic leapt from her fingertips an lightning flashed from above, the thunder echoing off the trees as the occupants of the field held their breath.

Bella flicked her hand at James, and lightning came down from the heavens in a constant steam of pure natural energy. He caught fire, but the lightning kept him pinned to the spot. Victoria gave out a wounded cry, launching herself at Bella but was intercepted by Alice who roundhouse kicked her into the stream of lightning at James's feet.

Another flick of Bella's wrist made her and the other women disappear along with the lightning, leaving them all to listen to Bella and Alice's chilling taunt:

"Hey James…come out and play…"


	19. Chapter 18

Author's Note: Well it is now the official start of the Christmas Holidays at University, so I have finally found some time to type up this chapter that has been lying dormant in my notebook for over a month...and it is my first attempt at an Emmett POV, so please be nice and I aplologise for his potty mouth in advance...

Merry Christmas!

Skyla123

xxx

* * *

Emmett was mad. No, the word 'mad' did not do justice to what he was feeling as he chased the hunter James through the forest. He was furious, tearing up tiny trees and using them as javelins to throw at the hunter, causing him to change direction to avoid being impaled. Laurent was in Carlisle's custody, and the female Victoria had Jasper on her tail and going by the waves of malice coming off his brother, she had better hope he never got a hold of her.

_Poor cow...wonder if he'll let me watch..._

Edward had run off in the direction of the Cullen house, sensing that was the place the girls had disappeared to after Bella's little light show. Emmett was proud of her; the lightning had been a stroke of genius and had got James and Victoria's attention as to who they were trying to fuck with. Emmett may not have known Bella or her mother long, but he knew a fighter when he saw one and Bella's whole frame promised a world of hurt to anyone who tried to mess with her.

Not to mention what Alice was capable of when she was provoked. Emmett was still mentally scared after the last time she had lost it, curse his perfect vampire memory.

A flash of red hair was the only warning Emmett had as the woman Victoria ran out in front of him. She grabbed James's hand and the pair took off in another direction and disappeared from sight behind a small rock formation.

By the time Emmett got there a few seconds later, they had gone.

_Shit..._

* * *

_Edward is going to be mad..._

Bella and Alice were quickly putting together the last details of their plan, Rosalie and Esme were putting together as much cash as they could get their hands on, which made Bella feel guilty for spending their money. Esme had quickly dismissed her protests, putting the notes into Bella's pocket and walking away.

"It is only money Bella, you can pay us back once this is over if you feel like it. Besides, lives are far more important than money..."

Bella had quietly thanked her for the money, as Rosalie came down from upstairs with one of her spare shirts and a pair of jeans for Bella to change into. The clothes were a little tight, but a quick spell loosened them up so Bella could walk around comfortably.

"Not bad, at least they will hide your scent for a while. "

She pulled out an old yellow shirt of Emmett's and threw it to Alice, who wrinkled her nose in disgust as she looked at it.

"Alice before you complain, we do not have the time to do an extreme makeover here."

"But Rose-"

"Alice dear, Rosalie is right. You can change into something else once you are in a safe location. So please, for me?"

Alice grumbled as she put on the shirt, the size of it swamping her as the bright yellow clashed with her red pixy hair. Rosalie smiled in sympathy as she took in the sight of her sister in such a hideous garment; Bella herself had to fight not to laugh out loud thus earning the furious wrath of a highly embarrassed Alice.

A flickering over her sight was the signal to a vision as the images began to flash before her eyes, James and Victoria had escaped from the boys right on schedule, and were following the false trail she had laid out which lead towards Seattle. Edward was almost at the house, his mind a whirl with panic and anger as he caught up with Carlisle and the reluctant Laurent near the river. Emmett and Jasper were also on route, so all they had to do now was wait and let events unfold.

* * *

Emmett returned to the house in a foul mood, mentally kicking himself for letting the pair gat away on his watch. Jasper and Edward were arguing with Bella and Alice, and the girls were giving them a run for their money in the stubbornness department. Carlisle was quietly interrogating Laurent in a corner while Esme fretted over the whole situation, with Rosalie trying to offer what comfort she could.

"Bella, just listen to me!"

"No, _you_ listen Edward! I am not some weak, defenceless mortal who needs to be treated like I'm made of glass! Despite your best intentions, I am not going to run away from the asshole who MURDERED MY BROTHER AND SISTER!"

Emmett intervened at that point, grabbing Edward by the throat and pinning him to the glass wall thankfully without breaking it. Bella was crying, her tears running down her cheeks as she furiously wiped them away, Alice hovered next to her while Jasper fumed quietly to her left.

"Edward, I get that your worried about them. But do not take out your frustrations on Bella, otherwise you and I are going to have problems, ya feel me?"

"Emmett-"

Emmett squeezed tighter, cutting off Edward's air supply mid-sentence.

"I asked you a question-"

Edward tried to remove his hand, but Emmett just gripped harder to the point that if Edward had been human he would have crushed his windpipe and probably cracked his spine at the base of his skull. Sadly for Emmett he did not get to hear the satisfying crunch of his insensitive brother's bones, instead he got one of Bella's delicate hands on his arm which silently asked him to remove his hand from Edward's throat.

Emmett held on for a few more moments before finally letting go, Edward hitting the floor in a heap as he took in deep breaths of air and massaged his abused neck, all the while sending Emmett what had to be the filthiest look imaginable. Bella squeezed Emmett's arm in silent thanks, making her way over to Edward as he finally got off the floor.

"I am not asking you to back off, Edward. Please, just give me and Alice enough room to work with okay?"

Edward was not happy, but it was a testament to how much he loved Bella that the usually unmovable vampire nodded in agreement to her request, bringing her into his arms and holding her as close as was physically possible. Bella accepted his silent apology and clutched him back just as tightly, so Emmett finally relaxed enough to postpone Edward's execution, (at least until he screwed up again that was.)

The pair finally broke apart, Edward keeping his arm around Bella as they all turned their attention to Laurent and Carlisle, who were concluding their little 'chat' and finally coming over to join the rest of them. Carlisle was not happy; in fact Emmett even dared to think that his father was in fact angry and barely able to restrain himself from clocking Laurent in the face, (a sight that Emmett, Edward and Jasper would pay good money to see in a heartbeat, if they had one.)

"Tell my family what you told me Laurent, all of it."

That last part made the dark skinned vampire's eyes flicker to Bella.

"I am not sure that the witch-"

"What happens to you will be up to Bella. But I warn you Laurent, do not try to gloss over anything you have done, if you do I will personally dismember you in the most painful fashion I was taught by Aro himself."

That mere mention of the infamous vampire's name had Laurent eating out of his father's hand, which made Emmett smile briefly before the implications of what Carlisle had said finally hit home. Whatever Laurent had done that involved Bella had made his father so mad, that the usually peaceful vampire was threatening violence towards the intruder.

This meant whatever Laurent had told him, it was not going to be pleasant for Bella to hear.

* * *

In a way she knew what Laurent was going to say before he had even opened his mouth, some instinct that had nothing to do with her powers told her what she was about to hear was going to haunt her for a very long time in her dreams.

"I think you already know what I am going to confess, don't you?"

"Where are the babies, Laurent?"

The rest of the room's occupants were clearly lost as to what Bella meant by that, but she was not even listening to the confused voices echoing in her mind, she was too busy trying to remember how to breathe. An image formed in Laurent's mind of a small river in the Amazon, the water was littered with the floating corpses of children and babies with their tiny bodies covered in bite marks. Their sightless eyes were looking up at the sun; their faces forever twisted in agony as the vampire venom slowly and painfully killed them.

Bella stopped breathing.

Fire blossomed at Laurent's feet, quickly engulfing the surprised vampire as he screamed in pain and surprise. Carlisle jumped out of the way as the flames began to grow hotter and hotter, the smell of burning flesh becoming so rancid that the vampires had to cover their mouths. Edward was trying to say something to her, but Bella barely took any notice as she focused on melting Laurent's flesh from his body.

"Those babies must have been so frightened, Laurent. Tell me, how many of those innocents did you leave to die with FUCKING VENOM IN THEIR VEINS!"

The flames went higher and the heat got more intense, to the point it was if they were all in front of an active volcano's lava pool. Laurent had stopped screaming, but he could still feel the flames and his mind was a jumbled mess of screaming and begging for it all to end.

"They did nothing to you, and yet you wiped them out. Babies who did not even get the chance to think about thought, wiped from existence for what Laurent?"

The vampire was incapable of answering, his body was a spitting pool of fat and bones on the floor radiating agony to the point it would have driven Jasper mad if Bella had not managed to shield the brunt of from him, leaving him with just enough space to realise what the man was going through. She extinguished the flames which had left a scorch mark on the rug and the smell of burnt flesh polluted the air, while the occupants tried to process what they had just witnessed.

Bella cast several silent incantations over the burnt Laurent, his flesh and body slowly rebuilding themselves as the natural healing process of the vampires was amplified and sped up to accommodate the damage he had suffered at her hand, leaving him breathing heavily on the floor and looking up at her with terror in his eyes.

"You will answer for your crimes one day Laurent, but right now I need information about James and his hunting style. Give me the information and I will give you a head start before I inform my brethren of what your clan has done, or you can refuse and suffer the consequences. It is your call, Laurent."

It took the vampire less than a nano-second to respond.

"James is relentless when he is on a hunt, he will never give up on a target until he has drained it dry, no matter what the risk. A fact I think you are familiar with, witch."

Bella said nothing and helped the vampire to his feet, cleaning up the scorch mark off the rug and restoring the material to its former state.

"He has hunted for you both for decades, his frustration has only made him more lethal and dangerous, and if you face him you must be careful. He will use anything you hold dear to his advantage, family or loved ones will not be safe from him until you are dead or have surrendered to him completely."

Bella listened to Alice process the information and consult the visions to show their next step, while Edward and Jasper were busy coming up with strategies in their heads while being completely oblivious to the conspiracy that would render their plans completely useless, which made Bella feel slightly guilty.

"Thank you Laurent. Now get out of my sight. If our paths cross again, I will kill you."

Laurent took the hint and made himself scarce, disappearing into the distance and avoiding James and Victoria in fear of their wrath. Bella made her way into the garage to recover her truck, she would need to take it home and pick up some things before she and Alice made a break for it and lured James into their trap.

Edward followed close on her heels.

"We need a plan, Bella and Alice have got to leave town."

Edward sent a furious look towards Rosalie, who was performing her role perfectly just as Bella and Alice had foreseen she would. Esme was already working her own kind of magic on Jasper and Carlisle to bring them round their way of thinking, which just left Bella, Rosalie and Alice to convince Edward and Emmett.

"Think about what Laurent said, James will use anyone to get Bella and Alice to come to him. What about the humans at school? Our scents are all over those buildings, and it does not take a genius to guess why, and he will use them to lure us all away so that he can strike."

Edward was silent as his mind went over the scenario, and his anger peaked when he saw the logic behind the tactics, his arm reaching out and encircling Bella in a protective manner. Bella took her cue from Alice, she made her way over to Jasper to help Esme weaken his resolve as Bella turned to work her charms on Edward.

_Edward?_

_Please let me protect you...I'll go mad if I don't._

_Listen, I know how you feel. I want that bastard gone too, but we have to think of the wider picture here, because unfortunately James will not leave us alone until he gets what he wants. _

_Bella-_

_Alice and I have come up with a plan. We leave town with Jasper tonight, we'll head to Phoenix and hide out there for a while. In the meantime you, Emmett and Carlisle will hunt the git and drive him away long enough for us to make our escape..._

_So that is why you are wearing Rose's clothes? To mask your scent?_

_Smart Vampire._

_What then?_

_You hunt the bastard down and have your blood fest, just make sure to make him scream for me will you?_

_What about you? _

_I'll get over it, right now we have to focus on getting the hell out of here before James decides to stark snacking on the locals. Our 'friends' the Indians will not like it if that happens…._

_Touchy dogs…_

_True. But before we go, I have to see Lulu and tell her what is going on, if she doesn't know already…_

Edward nodded his consent as the link closed and a covert look at Alice and Rosalie was the signal that stage one of their plan was complete, now they were on to stage two: ditch the boys and bait the trap.

Bella could hardly wait.

* * *

Lulu was waiting in the foyer as her daughter and her boyfriend entered looking over their shoulders as they closed the door, their whole postures relaxing slightly as they heard the lock click in place. the door was designed to prevent thieves from entering the house, but a few magical charms and runes made it so no hostile force could enter it without their say so, an addition that had been added on after the unfortunate incident with the Indian boy Jacob trying to burn their house down.

_Lulu, James is here…_

_I see. What are you planning Bella?_

"Edward, can you go and secure the locks in the back? I need a moment with Bella, if you don't mind…"

"Sure, be back in a moment okay Bella?"

He disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the women alone long enough for Bella to reveal the plan she and Alice had concocted. It was a stroke of genius and Lulu could tell the girls had worked hard to come up with such a detailed scheme behind their concerned lovers' backs.

They intended to lure the monster back to New York, the very place where his sins against her family cost her a daughter and a son, and left her youngest child to run for the rest of her life like a common criminal. Lulu's blood boiled in anger, but it was not the time or the place to start losing control, so she counted to ten and let Bella continue the conversation.

_My only worry is the that the building is either gone or we sold it on to someone else…_

_The lease is still in our name, I'll call Nooj and tell him to have the power turned back on. Anything else you both need just give me a call and I'll have Nooj arrange it._

_Thanks, mother._

_Just come home in one piece Bella, not just for our sakes but for Edward's as well._

_Promise._

They left half an hour later with James hot on their trail, but Lulu decided it was time for an intervention on their behalf so she sent the vampire flying into a tree which gave Bella enough time to get the truck in gear and out of harms way.

James was pinned to the tree as they drove off, but as soon as he got free he was after them like a shot, but Bella, Alice and Jasper were already on the motorway heading towards Phoenix. The rest of the Cullens were waiting for him just outside the Forks boundary line, and the moment Edward caught the sound of his thoughts they were after him and herded him in the opposite direction to the rapidly retreating trio.

An unexpected ally also emerged from the border of the Indian Reservation, the transformed Sam also gave chase howling and snapping at the frustrated vampire as Lulu watched in her viewing crystal, taking a sadistic pleasure in James's frustration as he was forced onto a cliff by the wolf and the Cullens.

Unfortunately before anyone could move James's mate Victoria appeared and managed to help him escape, ducking behind the line they had created much to the men's fury and the female's secret delight as it was according to Bella and Alice's plan. The pair made their way back to the motorway but the trail had been ruined by other cars, apart from the deliberate clue Bella had discretely left for them to follow which James and Victoria lapped up without question.

Now all Lulu could do was wait, and try and put off her sons in case they somehow got wind of what was going on.

_Be safe Bella…_


	20. A Moment in Time: Bella

**Author's Note: **Just a quick oneshot guys, the next chapter is still in the process of being typed in between my Uni work.

Enjoy.

* * *

Bella was bored.

It was usually a common occurrence when she was in school, half listening to teachers regurgitating the same historical or scientific facts she had already learned, or in the case of history she had lived through herself. The World Wars were always a touchy subject for her, most of the time she would skip classes because she did not trust herself enough to be in the room when the pacifists would start pointing out the pointlessness of the war. Bella actually attacked one of her teachers back in 1971 for his comments about the Vietnam War and WWII, the teacher had to be sent to the hospital and Bella was expelled for breaking the man's arm in three places.

But she did not regret it.

So in order to keep the peace, Bella called in sick the day her history class in Forks was covering the First World War. The secretary had become used to such calls from her to the point where she did not bother asking what the ailment was, instead just asking for a doctor's note to be sent to the office when she came back to school.

Bella was thankful Carlisle had given her a stack of notes for just such an occasion.

So she went into the living room and put the first DVD she could lay her hands on into the DVD player, and she conjured up some popcorn and soda as she settled herself into the couch for a movie marathon.

The first film was Bonnie and Clyde, and once again Bella found herself picking out the historical inaccuracies of the film. Bella had actually met Bonnie and Clyde shortly after the ambush in Dexfield Park, not long after she had left New York following her first encounter with Edward.

Bella had been working in a small clinic nearby with Lulu at the time, and head been following the pair's crime spree in the papers. She had been busy in the Pharmacy organising the pills and the bandages when the door had opened quietly, and she looked behind her to see a young man in a suit looking very jumpy as he made his way to the counter. He had pulled his hat down to cover his eyes, but it was not hard for Bella to see that it was Clyde Barrow in the flesh.

"I'm afraid we are closed, sir."

"I know, it's just...my wife..."

Bella looked over his shoulder to see a woman slumped in the back seat of a car, the face just about recognisable as Bonnie Parker despite the paleness of her skin, from what Bella assumed was blood loss.

"I see. Would you like me to take a look at her?"

"I was hoping the Doc would take a peak, she's in a bad way..."

After what Bella had read of the ambush that had cost Clyde's brother his life, she was not surprised that Bonnie was in a bad way.

"My mother is busy with a breach birth on the other side of town, I'm afraid it's me or nothing, sir."

Clyde gave in at that point and Bella left the counter and went into the Ford V8 to look over Bonnie, aware that Clyde had a gun handy just in case she tried something out of sight in his jacket pocket. Bonnie had been shot in the stomach, and the wound had begun to fester and was obviously causing her great pain. She looked warily at Bella while she completed her examination of Bonnie's injuries, and it took all of her professionalism not to gasp as she discovered that the bullet was still inside Bonnie. Bella discretely melted the bullet away in Bonnie's stomach, and gave the woman a little magical energy to begin the healing process. She got out of the car and pulled Clyde to one side, leaving Bonnie to finally fall asleep without pain.

"The wound in her stomach has become infected; she needs stitches to close the wound and she'll need to keep it clean otherwise she will end up in hospital."

The mention of the word hospital made Clyde twitch, and he took a long hard look at Bonnie before he looked back at Bella.

"Can you do stitches?"

"Yes I can, just let me get my mother's equipment ready. Bring her round the back when your ready, the door's open."

Clyde refused to follow her advice as she knew he would, instead he picked up the wounded Bonnie and followed her inside. Bella closed the door and sent a few mental instructions to the surrounding civilians to forget the suspicious car outside the pharmacy as well as its occupants. The trio went into the clinic through the connecting door, and Clyde laid Bonnie down on the examination table as Bella fished out Lulu's instruments.

She put a chair on the opposite side of the table and signalled for Clyde to sit down in it.

"Your wife will want to hold your hand; this is going to hurt even with the painkillers I'm going to give her."

"How fast can you do this?"

"Going by the size of the injury, it will take about twenty minutes. Just make sure she lies still, or this will take much longer than that."

Bella thoroughly cleaned the wound and injected a local anaesthetic into Bonnie's stomach, and while she waited for it to take affect she threaded the instruments with the surgical thread. Bonnie was brave as Bella set to work, but as she had predicted the poor woman had grabbed Clyde's hand and was squeezing it to death.

It was all over in fifteen minutes.

Bella wiped the area with disinfectant alcohol once more before wrapping Bonnie's stomach in a fresh bandage and gauze, giving Bonnie instructions on how to keep it clean and free of infections. She gave them a bottle of medicinal alcohol Lulu secretly brewed in a distillery under the clinic, as well as some more bandages and supplies.

She was surprised when Clyde produced a thick wad of money and put it in the till, despite her protests.

"Listen lady, you helped us so we help you okay?"

"At least let me look at your arm as well..."

Clyde shook his head and picked up Bonnie, who had thankfully fallen asleep after thanking her for the help. He left the building and put Bonnie back on the back seat, with Bella following close behind him.

"Thanks, I mean it. Not many folks will take the likes of Bonnie and me in like you did."

Bella was not surprised Clyde had guessed she knew who they were, despite what the papers said about him he was an intelligent man when it came to reading people and planning a crime.

"You're welcome, Mr Barrow."

"Just wait a while before you call the cops about us, will you? Running is not much fun with Bonnie hurt like this..."

Bella nodded despite the fact she could not bring herself to even think about ringing the cops, despite the fact the pair had murdered several cops and stolen quite a bit of money from the local banks. Clyde drove off slowly without anyone noticing him thanks to Bella's mental suggestions, and the pair disappeared around the bend without pursuit.

The sound of machine gun fire brought her out of the past and back into the movie, Bonnie and Clyde were being ambushed for the last time. It was not so different from what Bella had seen in the newsreels of the time, apart from the fact it was in colour and not black and white.

She turned the DVD off with a sigh, regretting her choice of film due to the brief connection she had with the infamous duo. She did not condone what they did, but it was not as if they had a choice given the fact they were living in the Great Depression. Many thought the pair had been done to rights and that justice had been served upon them, but even now over sixty years later Bella had a hard time seeing how their demise had served a purpose. They were only a symptom of the disease that had infected the country, and the lack of federal leadership by Hoover and his administration had brought them into existence.

Two young lives blown away to offer a temporary solution to a problem that would only be cured by war.

Some justice that was.


	21. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

Attention All, for I have a message for the masses...

I have a lot to do at the moment at home, and thus I don't have enough time to write up all the chapters that dwell in my notebook. So I have put a poll on my Author's page, which gives you all the option to vote for which story I update first.

Please look for the poll at the top of my Author's page, and vote for the one you **really **want me to update.

You have my thanks for reading this message.

**P.S** Many thanks to those of you who have recently either reviewed or story alerted any of my works, they have been the few worthwile emails in my inbox as of late.

Please send me some more!

**11/8/2012**

Just read a review by Cloudcity'sbookworm who kindly pointed out that I'd left out Ebony and Ivory from the Poll, a mistake I can't believe I didn't notice before! I have corrected that little oversight, and now you all can vote for it.

Many thanks to Cloudcity'sbookworm, and I apologise to all of you who wanted to vote for Ebony and Ivory.

Must of been having a blonde moment.


End file.
